


Family Holiday

by Shatterpath



Series: Pyramid [10]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Adoption, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Families of Choice, Femslash Big Bang Monthly Challenge, First Kiss, Kid Fic, Lena is a BAMF, Pam in HR - Freeform, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-12-20 04:30:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11913237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: The party on Christmas Eve was so fun that most of them were loathe to leave. So they took over Kara's loft to sleep themselves out and the sweet family shenanigans continue!Like the last installment, this takes place over the course of a single day, this time, Christmas itself!WOW! Chapter 11 benchmarks my putting over 2 million words on AO3! Go me!





	1. Wakey Wakey

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of the belated Femslash Con taking place right now on Paltalk, we're back! Here we are, at last, for Christmas Day. Woot woot! Remember that this is actually 3 days before Suited Up and none of those events have taken place. (Hey, if Once Upon a Time can do 6 seasons of out of chronological order, so can I!) 
> 
> (IM note, because it's funny!)  
> theillogicalthinker: Sandy then goes to take an adorable photo of Alex smothered by her girls and the goddamn giant cat plushies  
> Shatterpath: OH! I can't believe I forgot those!  
> theillogicalthinker: NEVER FORGET THE GIANT CAT PLUSHIES
> 
> As before, Ill, this would have never gotten so wonderful and elaborate without you. You rock!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was these little moments that made her feel real, rooted to this new world with the Danvers at the center. She kissed her girls on the cheeks, adoring them all the more as the moments ticked by, wallowed in how Alex pulled her in for a real kiss, the way Matilda pressed closer to their larger bodies, as much a part of their dynamic together as they were to each other now.

Like clockwork, Sandy woke at five a.m. and blinked around the unfamiliar room. Remembering where she was, she let well-honed instincts test the mood of her surroundings for threats or disruptions. Not so much as sneaky little child's footfalls in the quiet and she allowed herself the luxury of slipping away to sleep once more.

When consciousness came for again, she was over-warm and her old bones felt creaky. With a groan and a slightly shaky hand on her cane, she managed standing and toddling off. Sandy would never admit it, but the handhold rig assembled around the toilet was a welcome treat. Then she could do her actual routine, ignoring the constant nag of pain in knees and shoulder and that old bullet wound that had bit so deep into her lung all those years ago. 

With her rainbow of pills in hand, she forayed deeper into the outdated apartment that had belonged to the girl's generous neighbor, startling at an unexpected movement utterly out of context.

It was the tip of a white tail, curling lazily up and down in a slow 'come hither' motion. Ah, those must be the Mutate twins then. The fuzzy pile of them on the couch were much more striking than the mugshots from the Cadmus files. Fascinating.

Foregoing the company of strangers for the moment, Sandy toddled off to the kitchen to raid the refrigerator. Which she noted was awfully empty for so many bodies living together. Well, at the least the scant offerings were good, healthy food anyway. With some nibblies to pad her stomach, she took her hated handful of pills and headed next door.

Kara's loft looked like a slumber party had gotten together with a drunken rave and crawled off to a corner to sleep it off. Bodies lay in various states of loose-limbed repose across every soft surface, lit dimly by the watery dawn. The place had gotten surprisingly toasty overnight in defiance of the grey rain outside. 

But first, her beloved namesake.

Alex was the center of a dogpile both unique and beloved. She lay sprawled on her back, body relaxed in a way not so natural to her while awake. Doubtless that was less the familiar surroundings and more the green-eyed beauty clinging loosely to her and the small child sprawled over her legs and belly. The pair of nearly life-sized plush cats crowding the little family off to one side might not have been as welcome, but they too were tucked partially under the covers. It was a good thing Lena was apparently an enthusiastic cuddler, as she was right at the edge of the mattress.

Sandy didn't hesitate for a moment to take pictures. Nor did she skimp on them.

James would probably laugh at how he had oozed half off of Kara's too-small couch, one arm trailing to the floor, feet hooked over the armrest. Maggie had somehow twisted herself onto her side-- and her lamed leg was going to be sore for it-- and was spooned tight around Lucy's smaller frame.

Jess and Carter were both fetal balls under the blankets in their respective sleeping spots, but that wasn't what made Sandy grin gleefully and snap a million pictures. For Cat had managed to roll Kara on her back and was snuggled atop her, peacefully asleep. Though unlike little Matilda, Cat had a faceful of perky tits.

What were friends for if not to take incriminating photos and share them with a select few? Even as Kara stirred in response to Sandy's small noises, the pic was winging its way over the airwaves with the caption, ' _My youngest granddaughter is apparently a toddler and her cuddly Kitty isn't much better._ '

One of the snaps of Alex and her girls was tagged, ' _My namesake is apparently the cutest of doormats._ '

"Gram?" Kara asked with all the adorable sleepiness of the toddler Sandy had joked about her being and then squeaked in shock.

"Relax, sweet girl, I have no intention of giving you any hell about this. Cat on the other hand…"

That wicked grin on her careworn face was so like Alex that Kara instantly forgot her alarm, though she might not be able to ever look Cat in the face again. With deft hands, Sandy peeled away a clinging arm so that Kara could carefully squirm away, but she wasn't getting that heavy red fabric away from her mentor anytime soon.

"Feeling nostalgic?" Sandy teased gently as Kara floated up and over the back of the couch and settled to her feet. Her grip on the cape she wore so proudly was not quite white-knuckled, but it was close. Sandy set a hand over that steely grip. "Kara, don't worry. Did you really think she doesn't know? She won't let Carter get a good enough look at the thing to clue him in. Cat will take good care of all the parts of you."

Kara allowed the cape to fall, watched how Cat curled into the alien material, tucking her whole body around it as though she could sense Sandy's quiet words.

"Why did she stay away?" Kara asked mournfully and Sandy wrapped her in a warm hug.

"People grow at their own pace." 

The statement was gentle, but implacably firm. Gramma Sandy was never one to mince words and Kara generally appreciated that. But she still wasn't feeling her best, hadn't for some time.

"Do you know what we need here?"

Anchored by her adopted grandmother's voice, Kara looked expectant. "What?"

"We need a Christmas tree. A ridiculous, decadent tree that nearly tickles the insane ceilings you have in this place."

"It's only fourteen feet."

"Sweet, sunny child, trust me, that's ridiculous. But first, you do your quick change routine and head up for a few minutes. You're looking a little sun-starved. I'll meet you on the roof with proper attire for an outing."

Kara wanted to object. She really did. Sandy was aged, not in the best health, and it was chilly and rainy. But she also had been living in a much, much nastier climate for decades, and was stubborn as an old oak tree. So Kara blurred into her suit, gave a last longing look to her cape, and was gone in a rush of wind.

\----

A clatter of sound and merriment suddenly carried through the apartment, waking the occupants to various stages of drowsiness. Always fearful of her own safety, Lena was instantly alert and ready to jump to her feet before the voices registered.

"That was fun! Can we do that again in better weather?"

"Of course!"

Only a beat behind Lena, Alex was ready to leap into action, the reflex stopped by her grandmother's and sister's combined amusement.

Then a small army of evergreens began appearing at the enormous windows of Kara's crowded apartment, accompanied by a red and blue blur. It took a long moment to realize they were the same army of evergreens that had decorated the party last night. Something clunked down heavily just out of sight and Sandy commented, "excellent, very festive. Thanks for your help, Supergirl. Enjoy your holiday."

The fond sarcasm was carefully concealed. 

Lena stifled down a giggle as the front door closed firmly and a rush of wind was quickly followed up by Kara stepping out of the bathroom, dressed in her pajamas once more. "Wow, would you look at that," she commented brightly as the rest of the gang came more to life around her space. 

"Special delivery!" Sandy called merrily as everyone continued to blink in bewilderment. She was still bundled up and wet from the weather, shedding off her layers and clattering around Kara's tiny kitchen. "Santa's little helper brought us the start of some merriment!"

Lena almost teased them about the commentary until she realized she wasn't at all certain who knew the truth of Kara's two identities. Besides, she had the most wonderful of distractions right here beside her. A soft and sleepy Alex pet at Matilda's head awkwardly with the cast as the child craned her neck to smile groggily at her almost-moms.

"You have a noisy tummy."

Chuckling, Alex coaxed with the club hand and Bug willingly crawled up from where her head had lain on her belly to snuggle her small self with both women to be embraced. 

"Sweetie, that was you," Alex teased gently and Lena watched Bug smile as she replied. 

"Nuh-uh."

It was these little moments that made her feel real, rooted to this new world with the Danvers at the center. She kissed her girls on the cheeks, adoring them all the more as the moments ticked by, wallowed in how Alex pulled her in for a real kiss, the way Matilda pressed closer to their larger bodies, as much a part of their dynamic together as they were to each other now.

"Merry Christmas to me," Lena whispered softly around the lump in her throat and giggled as Kara bounced over to half smother the trio in a big hug.

"Don't wanna get up," Carter groused sleepily as the activity picked up around him. "Someone was snorin'…"

"I don't snore," Lucy growled before anyone even had the chance to ask and James laughed as Maggie picked up on the sleepy snark.

"You do."

"Bullshit."

"It's just that no one dared wake you, tiny monster. They abandoned poor, broken me to my fate of prodding at you until you shifted around. Grumbling pissily the entire time, I might add. Ooooow…"

"Sleep well?" Kara asked dryly as she rushed over to help Maggie sort out her aching limbs and scoop Lucy up with an ease she probably shouldn't have been displaying with Carter not five feet away.

"I would have slept better if someone hadn't kept jabbing me," Lucy raged as much as she could while still half-asleep and being cradled like a drowsy toddler.

Maggie flashed her teeth in an unrepentant smile as she gingerly stretched her aching limbs and back. "Not my fault you snore like a tiny, high-pitched mouse chainsaw."

The snickers started up as Lucy blinked, caught off guard by the nonchalant comment.

"Well, at least you don't have claws," she tried to fire back and Maggie's grin took on a filthy edge that made Kara cringe and set Lucy aside.

"What sort of lame lesbian would I be with fingernails?"

Stifled chuckles almost covered up Alex groaning out a sassy comment as she sat up with her girls' help. "Even I get that joke."

The gales of laughter finished waking the Grants and set Lucy to actually flushing a little, at last rendered speechless.

By that point, Alex had managed to stand up, gritting her teeth at the scream of irritated nerves in her hand and the faded bruises on her torso. With her good arm around Lena and bolstered by Matilda, she managed wandering out into the field of verbal battle. "Did someone finally best you, Luce? You're in trouble now."

In truth, Lucy looked more than a bit flummoxed, startling and dropping the blanket clutched loosely around herself as Sandy shifted to hand over a mug of coffee. Her expression was echoed on Cat's sleepy face as she propped herself up to look around blearily. Curtailing any teasing for the moment, Sandy set out a second mug for her, splashing a bit of the brew into a glass of milk for Carter, who fell on it eagerly. Then he blushed and turned away, causing Lucy to look down and sigh at herself, clothed in little more than hot red spankies, her brief shirt twisted up and her boobs threatening to spill out of her lacy bra.

"In my defense, I'm mostly dressed more than a lot of cheerleaders," Lucy protested weakly, though she did tug her shirt into some semblance of order at Cat's glare. 

Amused to see the irrepressible minx was off of her game, Cat teased her lightly. "I suppose the spankies don't leave much more to the imagination than that tiny skirt you were barely wearing."

"I didn't know this was going to be a slumber party," Lucy groused and was saved from more teasing when Cat sat up, every bit as sleepy and tousled as a feline who'd been sacked out in the sunshine. Kara gawked and several of their numbers stifled down giggles at the faded 'Midvale Sharks' sweatshirt the petite CEO was sporting in addition to black sweats that would normally adorn the much burlier Alex. Jess was in a cheerful orange T that read 'Hello Sunshine' that Kara remembered giving to her sister years ago and pajama pants worn feather-soft with use. Even a drowsy Carter was dressed in one of Alex's soft knit shirts and his own slacks.

"Alex? Why is everyone in your clothes?"

Where she had settled to the couch barely evacuated by James, Alex chuckled and tugged a weakly-protesting Lena into her lap to be nuzzled. "It's cute how many hot women are wearing my clothes, but I'm only interested in one."

As Lena herself was decked out in USC reds, she chuckled and provided the sweet kiss her girlfriend had tilted her chin up for. "You're very comfy, love."

"You like comfy."

It was a statement, as gentle as the tease and Lena pressed a kiss to Alex's skin.

"I really do."

"These were at the party," Bug commented as she sniffed at the army of little evergreens, stroking their scaly needle-leaves. With a commanding look at Kara, Sandy tottered over to the child.

"Well you see, Matilda, I got it into my head that we needed a Christmas tree to decorate. Some families don't decorate until Christmas Day, which is what we can do this year as things have been so hectic lately. So I called Supergirl for a lift, but we were unable to find anything we liked that would fit this big space. So, she had the idea of all of these lovely small trees so that everyone could have fun."

Gold eyes flickering from her almost great grandmother to a gently smiling Kryptonian and back again, Bug smiled. "So we each get a tree? An' can put them all together?"

"Sounds perfect. And Kara has a lot of Christmas things we can decorate with. If we need more, I bet we can go raid the party spaces."

Yawning blearily, Winn was the last one awake, stumbling towards the scent of coffee and nearly tripping over Maggie's footrest. 

"What are you wearing?" Kara laughed at the crazy rainbow tie dye shirt, rumpled enough to obscure some of the letters stamped across his chest. 

Winn only smirked as abruptly, both Lucy and Lena made noises of incoherent glee and raced off to Edna's apartment. Alex clearly had no more clue than anyone else, shrugging and playfully rolling her eyes. With noisy feet and girlish giggling the pair were back, skidding in on socked feet to pose side by side. 

They had changed shirts, Lucy in a short-sleeved tee so intensely pink it was eye-aching and Lena in a nearly florescent, deep blue camisole-style. Like the tie-dye monstrosity Winn had pulled into some semblance of order around himself, each of the three shirts read 'Sans-Serial Spawn'.

With incoherent glee, the trio fell on one another in a big group hug that carried a strange heaviness, despite their laughter.

The others were baffled.


	2. All We Need Is Love and Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a ripple of laughter, the gang distributed themselves around the big circle of couches to get out of the way and wait for their breakfast like good kids. Bug was shoulder-deep in one of the boxes brought up from the party space, handing Eliza disposable plates and forks made of thin, woven bamboo. Pleased at having helped, she dragged the twins over to Kara's bed to admire her cat plush pals, the whole fuzzy lot of them piled around Maggie in the rumpled covers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theillogicalthinker: My favourite random fact is that Dean Cain is a terrible cook and was in the celebrity edition of the worst cooks in america. WE NOW KNOW WHY ALEX AND KARA SUCK AT COOKING  
> Shatterpath: HAHAHAHAHA! I'm so riffing that in this story  
> theillogicalthinker: He was the first one eliminated  
> Shatterpath: EVEN BETTER
> 
> In the role of Alexandra the First, who survived two world wars and gave rise to Sandy, Jeremiah and Alex, I have 'hired' Dame Maggie Smith at her most sassy and wonderful. -hearteyes-
> 
> And can I mention poor Shan and her hopeless crushes? I feel bad for that big, friendly puppy! Help!

With the 3S Club cackling together over a single mug of coffee they were sharing, the others naturally gravitated to the tiny kitchen where more of the brew was bubbling in Kara's little coffee maker. Alex had slipped away to change, returning in yet another combination of tank top, sweats and a flannel shirt, which she had been pretty much living in since her injury.

"Still rockin' the look, Danvers," Susan teased and Lucy grinned at the dry look that earned. 

"You're as bad as the vodka aunts."

Maggie joined in on Lucy's full-bellied cackling.

Ignoring them, Alex ran her hand through her hair. "I need a haircut, this length is driving me crazy. Kara, so you have something I can pull it back with?"

The flimsy, flowered scarf Kara returned with earned a playful glare.

"Really?"

That coaxed Lena away from her Club-mates to slip the material away from her girlfriend's hands. "For someone capable of cleaning up as nicely as you do, you're intimidated by a scarf? Here, let me try."

Pleased with any excuse to touch, Lena ignored the sniggering and carefully wound and draped the thing until Alex somehow looked like a soft-butch, sixties flower child.

"Excellent retro work there, Lena!" Sandy praised and slapped her grandchild lightly on the back.

"Would you like me to do mine up the same?" Lena offered with an enticing little smile that Alex had to lean in and kiss sweetly.

"It couldn't make you look better, love."

"Sweet talker. You like making me blush."

"I absolutely do."

"Why?"

"Because it's sexy. Ignore the hyenas. That flash of shy color on you is a reminder of how strong you are, to be vulnerable. And I find it intoxicating."

Lost in one another, Alex and Lena swayed together in the watery sunshine near one of the many windows, smiles soft.

"Ugh, Alex is so whipped," Lucy complained mildly as she bumped up against Kara's side, nursing her second cup of coffee. "It's like eighties power ballad schmoopy. I'm allergic, you evil alien."

Kara merely gave her a wry look at that last lowly muttered comment for her ears only, remembering the times they had been adversaries in the past. Then she brought up her phone and snapped more pictures to add to her already extensive collection. Lucy merely raised a mocking and curious brow.

"Journalistic integrity," Kara sniffed haughtily and Lucy chuckled. For a short while, the gang lingered over their coffee and snacks and watched the loving couple in their oblivion.

"I take it back," Lucy piped up conversationally. "I think Lena is even more smitten." 

Kara was instantly all smiles and misty-eyed adoration. "Right?" a melancholy edge shaded her expression as she watched and her voice was soft and vulnerable. "This is all I ever wanted for her. All my 'about to die' speeches have been for her to find love and live her life."

Lucy merely regarded her friend in quiet awe for a moment before bumping shoulders in distraction and grinning when Kara looked over. "Honestly, Kara, if you were any more heart-eyes, you'd go blind."

After a moment of that melancholy smile, Kara gestured at the loving couple exaggeratedly, muttering, "my best friend and sister," in mock exasperation. Lucy's laughter finally dragged Alex and Lena's attention back to the larger world around them.

Polishing off his glass of milk, Carter gave Kara sweet puppy eyes. "Can I have some more? I'm starved."

"Of course you can, Carter. Help yourself."

He stuck his head in the fridge and chuckled as he poured more milk in his glass. "You're never going to be able to feed everyone, Kara."

That finally reminded Kara of the food waiting in the big spaces downstairs. "Hey, does anyone need anything from downstairs? I need to go grab Michael's leftovers."

With half their numbers gone, the loft was unexpectedly quiet, a sleepy Cat escaping to steal the bathroom while Winn and Lucy wrestled the black leather couches and bickered playfully over placement. Alex claimed a barstool and sat at the kitchen island to be close to her mother and watch the fun.

"At least the party didn't end with sleep," she chuckled and gave Eliza a wry look at the large mug of half coffee and half milk.

"You need the calcium to heal, sweetie."

"Yeah, okay, I can't argue that. Thank you, Mom."

"Almost makes me want to indulge in dairy," Cat yawned as she joined them, still clutching the rumpled cape she'd woken up huddled around. "Thank you for the loaners, Alex."

"You're welcome. A tiny price to pay for Kara's delight in having you close again."

There was a small censure in the words, but not the tone.

With a racket of chatter and bumping about, the foragers returned heavily laden down with carts and boxes and bags. Lucy and Carter obeyed Sandy's bossing them about to haul a couple large aluminum trays over to Edna's place.

"You totally have to adopt us," Lucy whined and made Carter giggle around the crack in his maturing voice. "C'mon, Gramma, we'll be the best grandkids!"

Kara shared a commiserating look with her sister.

"We'll take Carter, because little brothers rock, but I don't know about you, Lane of Broken Dreams!"

Alex grinned wickedly against the lip of her mug as Lucy shouted back, "suck it!"

"I'm glad we have these leftovers or we might have starved," Eliza mused and chuckled when her daughters gasped dramatically. "Girls, I love you both endlessly, but your kitchen skills are truly horrible. Their father was an even worse cook, if you can believe that," Eliza shook her head as she hip-checked Kara to move away from fiddling with the remaining trays. "Kara, honey, honestly, you'll ruin even reheating leftovers."

With a sigh, Kara let her adoptive mother shift her aside and flopped down next to Lena for a consoling hug.

"At least Alex picked up some bare basics."

"Scrambled eggs and pancakes and grilled cheese! And I'm good with a knife!" Alex crowed happily, her expression falling as she looked down at her broken hand. "Well, normally I am anyway."

Before anyone could react to the morose expression, Bug rocketed out of nowhere to nearly bowl Alex over with a tackling hug.

"Ooof! It's a good thing you're so tiny, Tilly!"

"You called me Tilly! Yay!" the child enthused and leaned away from her clutch to share a grin with Alex. "I don't know how to cook, but everything has tasted so interesting since you saved me."

With an expression soft with adoration, Alex smiled at the child wrapped around her. "Good. Though, that reminds me. Have you had any of that kibble you need in the last few days?"

Bug's guilty expression was answer enough.

"It's lousy, but we need it, kid," Shan's voice called out and Bug whistled out her little birdcall the twins immediately echoed back. The adults were happy to see the large pot of coffee Shan brandished. "For the troops."

"Go get 'em," Alex encouraged as she half crouched. "And thank you for the hug."

She kept in the wince until the child had turned to race off, followed by Kara.

"You're here! I didn't even hear you come in last night," Kara enthused at Shan while Bug jumped on Ro for hugs and headrubs.

"Teleporters," Shan teased and rubbed temples and cheekbones with Kara. "And it turns out we're too young to be working at a bar anyway. Though, don't we have to legally exist for that to be an actual problem? Disappointing, but I can't say getting away from your Daxamite 'pal' will be missed."

Ro made a rude noise and handed Bug off to be greeted properly by her twin while Kara looked exasperated and a little embarrassed. "Is he really that bad?"

Ro belly laughed, brutal fangs flashing in the morning light, and gripped Kara's shoulders in a near-embrace. "He's a male and that is explanation enough. Don't worry, Dace can keep him in line or threaten him with a lead cattle prod if he gets out of line. Now, I see a certain police detective in need of a hug."

Maggie was happy to be gently dogpiled by her Mutate pals, squeezing the albino twins as hard as she could. "Missed you guys yesterday."

They purred enthusiastically in response and nuzzled her cheeks.

"Kid hits like a linebacker, huh?" Eliza teased as Alex tried to twist some of the soreness and kinks out of her lanky body.

"I need a medically trained masseuse, I swear. At least the worst of the bruises are gone now. Whadda think, Lee? Got one of those in your contacts?"

Lena looked thoughtful for a moment before her grin erupted, slow and filthy. "You're not going to let me take a crack at it?"

Alex's blush made everyone else chuckle warmly.

Manhandled to her feet by the twins, Maggie let out a low, breathless whistle of pain that made both of them freeze, tails waving in agitation. After a moment, she pried her fingers out of their fur and patted them. "The leg is actually much better than even a couple days ago, but I have never been so damn body sore in my life. This bedrest thing sucks. That medically trained masseuse sounds really good right about now, Alex."

"Right? And why the hell don't you look so miserable, Susan?" Alex fake raged as the last couple joined them, Reba in tow. Unexpectedly, Kyra sighed resignedly and Susan's grin turned up to 'delighted'.

"I suppose there's no avoiding this, huh?"

"You could, but they'll look pitiful and you've seen the Puss in Boots eyes in action once already. I bet Dimples over there could be just as bad."

"Ugh, fine," Kyra grouched and glowed at the confused pair of LEOs. "Flip a coin or pick a number or something. And you owe me."

By the way the twins were hovering like nervous cats made up Kyra's mind. 

"Nevermind, I'm calling it. Kara? Can I borrow your bed? And the first person who cracks a dirty joke I will sic Susan on; or worse, my mother. Come on, Detective, you'll want to lay down for this, and keep your mouth shut."

Baffled, but curious, Maggie shared a weird look with Alex and hobbled after Kyra who gamely let herself get officially introduced to the twins. The three of them helped Maggie stretch out on the bed, toes hanging just over the edge so as not to take any pressure. Bug had trailed along to retrieve her plush cats from being squashed. 

"This is more fun naked, but you don't get that treat," Kyra sassed as she knelt on the bed and rubbed her hands together. "Anything wrong with spine, neck, large joints?"

"No… but there's a long scab down my left side."

"Noted. I won't be anywhere near it. All I'm gonna do is knock some of the kinks out-- don't say it-- and encourage your circulation."

With a bare minimum of guttural noises ranging from mild pain to half-sexy, Maggie laid limp beneath guitar-strong and tender hands as Kyra carefully rubbed over lines of muscle and tendon. The twins were fascinated and willingly took instruction, their large, unusually warm hands perfect for the work, even with blunted-off claws.

"C'mon, Mom," Alex tried to divert attention away from her pal in a vulnerable state. "Dad can't have been that bad. He fed me, us, sometimes."

"More like he ordered out and put things on plates to fool you, sweetie."

"He didn't!" 

"He absolutely did. Honestly, your father was so bad I could have put him in a competition for the Worst Cook Alive."

"He got that from me," Sandy volunteered wryly. "We reduced poor Jem to tears on the regular. We made up for it with hearty appetites and adoration. My mother was worse in the way only an Englishwoman coming out of two world wars could be." Channeling the beloved, crisp accent of her mother, Sandy intoned ponderously, "when in doubt, darling, boil it into submission." With a smile both adoring and sad, she added softly, "honestly, bless Jemima for keeping her loves alive."

"Jeremiah did joke about the two of you probably would have accidentally poisoned yourselves or something if left to your own devices."

"Is that why you always had hard candies in your purse?" Alex asked fondly and Sandy laughed.

"An old tradition, dear. Sugar was hard to come by during the Great Wars and Mum never did unlearn that. Hard candies were a treat and always carried pleasant memories."

"And ice cream," Kara chimed in dreamily and grinned at the amusement of the others. "Gramma Sandy would almost always have ice cream and I would get my own carton!"

There were many memories of teenage experiments of how much food Kara could really eat, how much she could lift, how fast she could fly. But the memories stayed silent, shared in the long, adoring look between the sisters.

Lucy, having returned from a quick shower and change of clothes next door, paused in confused consternation at watching Maggie getting massaged down. Ro was watching as Shan was instructed, Kyra's hands warm and pink against her exotic paleness. 

There was something loaded in the look Lucy and Shan shared and neither knew quite what to make of it. But Shan did make a faintly uncomfortable, mumbled excuse and scrambled away.

Good smells were wafting from the oven to distract and the gang finished adjusting the couches into a lazy circle. Maggie yawned and stretched and blew out a hard, gusty sigh. "That feels amazing, guys, thanks. And yeah, Kyra, I totally owe you big time."

"Raincheck, surfer girl," Kyra announced after she patted Maggie's hale leg in acknowledgement. "It's not like you're gonna get far."

Chuckling, Ro helped Maggie roll onto her back, carefully twisting the broken leg in time with her movements. 

"Your color looks better," Lucy noted and Maggie's blissed-out smile widened.

"I feel a thousand times better. Hey Vas!"

"No, Sawyer, you can't keep her," Susan deadpanned to the amusement of the group.

"Awww!" Maggie laughingly protested, forgoing whatever she had meant to say. "You're no fun."

"It is kind of selfish, though. Taking someone that good looking off the market," Lena teased, her smirk a lovely thing and Susan gave her the dry look she was fishing for. 

"Don't you start too."

"Oh I was talking about you, but your fiancé's pretty cute too."

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: that last exchange between Susan and Lena was an EEEEARLY one that SPL and I came up with. Happy to finally use it!)

With a ripple of laughter, the gang distributed themselves around the big circle of couches to get out of the way and wait for their breakfast like good kids. Bug was shoulder-deep in one of the boxes brought up from the party space, handing Eliza disposable plates and forks made of thin, woven bamboo. Pleased at having helped, she dragged the twins over to Kara's bed to admire her cat plush pals, the whole fuzzy lot of them piled around Maggie in the rumpled covers.

The crowd foraged whatever drinks they could from the two fridges, as well as water and coffee, and dug into the hot trays of reheated dumplings.

"Seriously Kara, how did you get your fancy-ass chef to make you food origami full of any and all of the Christmas foods anyone could ever want?"

Kara merely stuck her tongue out at Alex's teasing and went back to eating. "Because I'm cute. And I asked nicely. Oooh yum, I missed these shrimp ones last night."

Kyra couldn't stop herself, her comment dry. "I feel sort of dirty watching this."

They all dissolved into laughter at that and Kara's faintly embarrassed look as she wiped crumbs off of her face. Lena half choked and Winn gave her casual wallop to the shoulders to encourage coughing the stray crumb away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara's saying, "This is all I ever wanted for her. All my 'about to die' speeches have been for her to find love and live her life." may very well be the most accurate thing I have ever written for that character. -sniff- I really enjoyed that small conversation with Kara and Lucy.


	3. A Little Alarm Is Nothing Patience and Presents Can't Fix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Overcome with how the family she'd tripped into made her feel, Lena was once again reassured by Alex's loving smile. Better, her lanky lover abruptly uncoiled from Susan's recliner and stepped over to drape herself into Lena's lap. No matter the solid weight of her, Lena adored the gesture, clinging tightly and nuzzling her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Presents were originally going to be at the party, but it had already gotten SO long! In some ways, I like it better here, with a more intimate setting. Eliza needling Maggie is my favorite bit in this chapter.

"You should eat," Lucy encouraged as sat down beside Maggie and leaned into Ro. The larger Mutate twin was the quieter and more standoffish of the twins, mostly content to quietly observe the world around her with bright ruby eyes that missed little.

The gang looked guiltily at the tumbled mass of dumplings, ravaged from the neat rows Michael had left them in. Her careful notes of the ingredients in each type were now so much useless information.

"S'okay," Maggie murmured. "I'll scare up something from next door when I can move again."

"I've got it," Shan volunteered unexpectedly and padded over to peer at the mess. With deft fingers, she plucked out a dozen of the little packets. "Thanks."

"How did you know which was which?" Bug marveled. "Your sense of smell isn't that good! Not with all these people 'n stuff!"

Shan laughed and leaned over to rub her nose into Matilda's scalp. "Ro and I helped make these yesterday. I remember the patterns. Michael is a very demanding boss, but not in a mean way like the lab."

Less wary then of the mysterious little food packets then she had been at the party, Bug still sniffed over each nibblie once Alex or Lena had bitten it in half and accepted what seemed interesting to her. It reassured her that the food was safe and let her adults find out what she liked. She leaned towards the savory more than the sweet, but had a fondness for the veggies that cooked up with a sugary edge: carrots, yams, pumpkin. Taking her cue from Kara, Tilly broke out her sweetest, most pleading looks for the pumpkin in particular.

Food and caffeine began perking the assembly up and they began taking interest in the shrubs. In all the excitement of decorations and ornaments and wrapped presents, there was an emotional overload that resulted in a reappearance of Twenty-Six. Snarling violently, eyes dilated, the child literally bristled for a brief, startling moment before terrified horror shook her like a beaten dog.

In a flash, Matilda had bolted, scaling one of Kara's freestanding bookshelves that helped form a partial barrier between the living and sleeping areas.

In the startled quiet that fell, Alex waved everyone off and approached quietly. With an ease learned from dealing with an unexpected sister learning deadly superpowers, Alex kept her body language calm and soft, her voice even more so.

"Hey, hey, Bug, it's okay," Alex coaxed. "We're not angry with you and no one is going to hurt you."

Like a cat up a tree, Matilda cowered at the top of the six-foot bookshelf, but could not resist the haven of Alex's adoration and calm. After a long moment, she hesitantly leaned out to the reaching hand and let Alex pet her face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and Alex remembered all too well the brutal animal-handling equipment in that hellhole of an underground compound. Matilda needed no reminders of that, no over-coddling or carrying on. She simply needed calm and acceptance, things Alex was capable of in abundance.

"Apology accepted."

The absolute calm of the woman who first connected to her newly-freed self convinced Bug to creep down the shelves and into the one-armed embrace. As Bug trembled against her, Alex hated Cadmus as much in that moment as she ever did in context to her sister and her father.

"How about we go sit over there by the windows?"

"I don't like the windows…"

Fighting not to feel stupid for not thinking about that, Alex flashed Susan a pleading look. In a flash, the recliner closest to the door was emptied and Alex gratefully sank down to let Bug curl up for comfort.

"Come here, Lee," Alex ordered quietly as she noted her girlfriend looked a little out of her depth and didn't mind at all that she was being squished by her loved ones. As abruptly as the traumas surfaced like hunting sharks, they retreated once more in the warmth in their growing family connection. "My sweet girls. I love you both."

Gently bossy, the trio of moms got the others marshaled into moving the small trees into a loose cluster in the middle of the couches. Boxes of decorations were gathered and gifts set aside for the time being. Tempered in their gaiety in deference to the frightened child in their midst, the gang was warm and friendly and had fun pawing through the supplies to begin draping them about the arborvitae shrubbery.

Small samplings from the decorations were discretely left for the cuddling trio and the group dawdled excessively to give Matilda time to be comforted and still participate. And, with that kindly allotted time, Bug did indeed begin to take interest in the proceedings. Bringing her head up from where she had pressed it tightly into the seam of Alex and Lena's aligned bodies, she watched the others and the shiny things they handled. Then the big, gold eyes turned to her parents in all but name.

"Would you like to decorate a little bit?" Lena asked quietly, stroking the silvery black hair and feeling the child's nervous trust yank on her heartstrings. "It does look like fun."

So Alex calmly sent them off with kisses and remained where she was, their island in stormy seas.

Cradled between Lena's knees where she sat on one of the couches, Matilda mimicked the others around her in adding colorful baubles to the little tree they had left for her. At first, she quietly accepted whatever shiny was passed to her, but eventually foraged out on her own to nose through what was left. 

Overcome with how the family she'd tripped into made her feel, Lena was once again reassured by Alex's loving smile. Better, her lanky lover abruptly uncoiled from Susan's recliner and stepped over to drape herself into Lena's lap. No matter the solid weight of her, Lena adored the gesture, clinging tightly and nuzzling her shoulder.

Over on Kara's crowded bed, Ro suddenly yawned and bounced to her feet. Grumbling halfheartedly when she was scooped her up like a child, Maggie was borne back to the group, Lucy supporting the broken leg. Winn scrambled out of her recliner without being prodded, exclaiming, "now I know why you don't mind that thing! The heater is amazing."

Tilly made a happy kitten noise when Shan dragged over her giant plushes to join them, piling them next to Alex and Lena. Shan herself perched on the back of the couch and rested her clawed feet beside the toys as though protecting them. "Oh, do the pink," Shan encouraged happily and Tilly trilled at her and took another look at the weird fluffy ornament she'd been ready to set aside.

With a faintly startled sound, Lena jumped as though goosed and squirmed.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked and Matilda looked back at them, shifting around where she crouched between Lena's feet. Again, the woman made a weird noise and suddenly Tilly giggled.

"I tickled you."

"Is that your tail?"

"Yes!"

They laughed together and Alex slithered off Lena's lap to sit beside her just in time for a tiny dogpile hug. Maybe it was having the larger Mutate close by, but Lena consciously noted that they moved very differently than standard Humans. It wasn't just their animal DNA, it was the physical reality of having a tail.

"You get used to it," Shan offered, following Lena's eyeline. "And we've never known what it's like to be without. But getting them yanked or hurt is agony, yes."

"Could be worse," Ro spoke up, her tone wry. "We could be male."

Having noted how thick and strong the twin's tails were, it sounded uncomfortable even to their fellow females.

"I don't like males," Bug muttered and sprawled out on her folk's laps to pet her stuffy cats. "'Cept for Winn and James an' Carter. They are nice." There was a riot of snickering and Lucy looked like she was debating with herself before shaking her head.

"Nope, not touching that one."

"Presents," Eliza said decisively, jumping up to grab a big paper shopping bag that had been twisted shut. "I'm glad you like your stuffed cats, Matilda, because I have something similar." 

That got the child's attention. From the came a small, fluffy teddy bear. It was black with a brown nose and belly that peeked out from beneath a little t-shirt with a grinning cartoon tiger on it. Slithering away from Alex and Lena, Bug padded over to Eliza.

"Oh," she breathed out as she accepted the small toy and pet the silky fur adoringly. "It's beautiful."

"And it has friends."

Alex laughed in delight at her little brown ninja bear and Kara was wry over her little pink pal in a Superman shirt that matched Susan's in a coat of dark green. Lena startled and tentatively accepted her own bear in a warm yellow and wearing a pair of little glasses and a shirt and tie. The others happily dug through the bag and playfully squabbled over the colors and funny t-shirts until they were all satisfied. Even Cat found a pink bear who peeked out of the folds of the red cape she had yet to relinquish, much to the amusement of those that knew what the fabric was.

"Yours doesn't have a long fluffy tail like mine," Tilly noted as she held her new friend up near her grownup's. Alex chuckled and pinched the longer tail to flick it against Tilly's nose.

"Your new pal here matches you in tails then. The rest of us don't have anything as cool as a tail. Except your cousins, and their tails probably get stepped on more than yours, right?"

Giggling, Tilly relaxed into her warmth, as pleased with her new toy as any child would be. When Alex smiled at her mother, Eliza simply quirked a satisfied little smile and enjoyed the group's reaction to the little bears. "I had a feeling they would be needed, and the tail was easily enough put together. So who's next?" When no one volunteered, she simply smiled with a serenity that should have warned them. "I suppose round robin is as good a plan as any," Eliza said easily and turned that smile on a startled Maggie. For a moment, the younger woman had to wonder if the Danvers had an inherent ability to be sadistic while being the nicest damn people she'd ever met. Then she caught Kara's smirk and figured it wasn't bred, it was learned.

Well, she supposed she deserved it a little… 

"Oh, me?" Maggie stammered, feeling completely out of her depth. "Uh, I didn't know I was going to be here and that all of you were going to be… well, so damn amazing. Really, thank you so much. Christmas has been sorta… weird for me for a really long time and well…" Clearing her throat roughly, Maggie swallowed down the lump half choking her. "How about once I'm walking again, I'll cook for the whole, insane group of you. And not some lame cookout either. I'll cook."

The gang was delighted, smiles wide, but it was Alex that chimed up, her tone pure cheek. "Just no vegan pizza."

There had been a time, not so long ago, when things had been so loaded between them, bad, then good, and back and forth until they should have broken. And in a way, they had. And in more important ways, they had healed and become something new, something perhaps even stronger.

Maggie's sarcastic grin carried real affection for the astonishing woman, who firstly and most importantly, was her friend.

"Ha, ha. Shut up, Danvers."

For a moment, Lucy just eyed her potential paramour, unaware of the sappy look on her face, before she shook it off. "Okay, so no laughing. Yeah, I have a lot of time to kill at my mostly boring desk job. And boring isn't bad considering what I'm doing, but still. Okay, so I spent a lot of time at summer camps as a kid and learned all those cliché craft skills." Her expression went wry as Alex and Susan both were clearly holding back sass. "So, yes, I was doing arts and crafts out at the pit. I think I fascinated and terrified my staff about equally."

In a flurry of motion, she'd leapt off of the armrest of Maggie's recliner and distributed small, colorful bands of woven threads. Each bore a loop on one end and some sort of solid bauble on the other; a button or bead or other random object.

"Friendship bracelets!" Kyra half laughed and half squealed in excitement. "I haven't made these in years! You have good technique, Lucy."

"Did you make me a Batman band?" Kara asked incredulously, her voice to low to be heard by those who really didn't need any more clues about the other parts of her identity. Chuckling throatily, Lucy's response was even softer as she tapped the faceted green crystal bead. 

"And your own little piece of harmless kryptonite." 

It was a very Lucy gift and Kara laughed and stood to wrap her friend in a hug.

Alex just gave her an affectionate glare over the House of El crest on hers that matched exactly the symbol Kara wore so proudly as Supergirl. 

"Hey, I could have bought you a sex toy, Alex, so behave."

For Lena was a simple ribbed pattern of green and gray with a fancy glass button, and for Bug, a goldenrod field bracketed in with black stripes and a playful little bead shaped like an eye.

"To match your pretty coloring," Lucy explained and stroked her head with a smile. Unfortunately, the bracelet, though small, was still too long for her skinny limbs. Before the child could succumb to disappointment, Gramma Eliza saved the day.

"Could one of your cats keep it safe for you?"

"But then the other one won't have one."

Again the group rallied, this time in the form of a suddenly excited Carter. "Wait! Wait, I have this! Hang on a sec." Scrabbling across the room, he gathered up his battered backpack and trotted back over, rifling through it. "A friend at school gave me this and it's too small now, but it means something, so I can't just get rid of it. Ah ha!"

It was a bracelet intricately woven of red, white and blue cord and had a plastic click buckle. Proudly, the teen held it out and Bug took it with curious little fingers.

"Here ya go. His dad is in the Army and soldiers make these to remember other soldiers who served before them. Police and firefighters too, so you're in good company."

Delighted, Bug rubbed the cord bracelet, enjoying that it was clearly worn and bore Carter's scent. She smiled up at him, gold eyes bright. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Pleased with himself, Carter returned to his seat, even snuggling into the arm his beaming mother wrapped around his shoulders. With Lucy's bracelet on the tiger and panther bearing Carter's gift, Bug settled happily mixed in among her plushies and her family's feet.

Kara provided the gang with new boardgames and the crowd favorite was a tossup between the old-school 'Mouse Trap' that made Lena laugh uproariously and Lucy's 'Cards Against Humanity'. The latter was so heavily encased in clear packing tape that it was going to take a careful hand and a very sharp knife to get at the cards themselves. Kara tapped the box imperiously and gave Lucy a long look. "So you don't traumatize my new niece."

"Rude," Lucy mocked affectionately and they all had a good laugh.


	4. Thought of You Sweetly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Through gifts, the gang learn more about one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex is a sweet, adorable cheeseball under all the badass. It's one of the things we love about her!

The laughter carried them though a round of funny mugs from the guys and a few t-shirts from Lena, the best of which was Puss In Boots with his big, beseeching eyes that made Alex laugh and laugh. 

"I'm actually surprised that you guys didn't beat the tiger thing to death this year!" She teased and settled the shirt crookedly over her torso and mimicked the cartoon's expression poorly through her smile. It still earned her a kiss and she settled in smugly before abruptly sitting up. "Oh, hang on, it's my turn right? Lena could you grab that paper bag I had earlier? Thanks. Okay, so, since I didn't exactly have any time to shop," Alex said wryly. "I went with a good failsafe. Matilda, sweetie, would you like to hand these out for me?"

It took a little puzzling out over Alex's shaky left-handed writing, but the child managed the plain white envelopes, until she was left with only one that bore her name on it.

"Go on then," Alex encouraged as she once more cuddled her almost-daughter close and the gang tore into the envelopes.

"Oh hey!" Kara enthused, "it's from those 'thing of the month' websites! Ooooo! Ice cream! And hot sauce! You know me so well."

"Bacon!" Susan laughed and waved her page over her head. "I do love the meat candy."

Winn was aghast at his, flailing and getting amusement. "Alex! Did you get me on a 'bowtie of the month' club?"

"Oh, don't whine. Look at some of these rockin' things you can opt for. There's more on your sheet than just an itemized breakdown. You get pictures and there's more on the website you can swap out for."

"Hey! Is that Godzilla? Oooo!"

James' expression was wry as he read his. "Did I get the BBQ 'cause it's a guy thing?"

Alex just snorted at him, waving off the comment. "Oh please, like I haven't heard you wax poetic about slow-cooked meats before. Especially that place over in North Hollywood you go on about. Though, I admit, that was some of the best take-out I've ever eaten that time you brought some for game night."

"Mmmmm," Kara reminisced dreamily and then perked up. "Hey! When we remodel someday, we can set up a roof deck thing, will you do that?"

Bug was impressed that mother and daughter thought along the same lines and she would be getting a new teddy every month, and 'mmmm'ed over Kyra's future cheese samples. Reba and Eliza cackled over chocolates and flowers, teasing Alex that she was a suck up and they loved it while Lucy and Maggie compared their wine and beer lists and planned future drinking shenanigans.

"There's coffee and salsa too, but I figured since the orders come in around the same time at the beginning-ish of every month, it would be a good excuse to try and get everyone together."

That got a cheer that dissolved into babbling chaos. After a moment, Alex raised her voice above the hubbub to get their attention back. 

"Wait, wait, I have a few serious ones too. Mom, could you grab those for me?"

"Sure, sweetie."

A pair of square jewelry boxes nicely done up with ribbon were retrieved and handed over.

"C'mere, Winn." Startled by Alex's gentle order, Winn obeyed, sitting down on the floor near Matilda. To his surprise, Alex handed over one of the boxes with a sweet smile. "Because family can mean anything."

Whatever he had expected in the box, a pewter Christmas ornament with a cartoony rabbit on it holding a banner that read 'Baby's First Christmas 2016' was not it.

He almost looked hurt, and definitely confused when he looked back up into Alex's soft expression. "Turn it around."

"Winn… Danvers?" he said uncertainly and was reassured by the gentle smile of the woman who had become like a sister to him.

"You're a Danvers, now. Officially. I wanted you to know that you really are family."

For a moment, Winn was too overwhelmed to react, then he launched himself at her in a hug that really was too rough, but she didn't stop him. He clung as tight as Bug ever had, sniffling a little into her shoulder. Alex just hugged him around the skull and looked sweetly indulgent.

"I would have put Schott-Danvers on it, but when you say it loud, it sounds really wrong."

Winn laughed a little wetly and gave her a last squeeze then sat back down so that Alex could hand the other box to Matilda. Hers was an artisanal piece made from a flattened silver spoon with its handle bent over to make a loop and personalized with hand-punched lettering. Scooting to the edge of the couch and tucking her broken hand out of the way as best she could, Alex hugged them both to her and soaked up their happiness. 

That was Kara's cue to step over and hand her sister something before crouching down to hug her newest family members while Alex looked adoringly at the scene.

"What, nothing for your lady?" Susan teased and Alex scowled and blushed. Before she could growl, Lena just leaned in close to nuzzle behind her ear and the blush deepened for a completely different reason. 

"Nothing I'm gonna share with you jerks!" she tried to bluster, but the distinctly breathless edge to her voice ruined the effect. Then she dragged Lena into a proper kiss that got the others howling at them. 

Both of them were blushing by the time they came up for air. 

"Hey, we're sorry we don't have anything for you," Winn said where he was still seated on the floor with Tilly. It took a moment for Lena to realize that his sincerity was aimed at her.

"Next year, Best Luthor," Lucy added in decisively. "You're going to be a proper part of the theatrics, so start bracing yourself now."

Overwhelmed once more to find herself part of yet another new family, Lena smiled tremulously.

"This seems like a good time for one of mine," Kara chimed in and stood to distribute out tiny jewelry boxes. "Not for everyone, just the core of us that come to game night. Because I saw these and they were perfect."

James got his open first and laughed over the little slice of pizza charm, followed by Winn, Lucy and then Lena, who then helped Alex rip away paper and tape from the little box. When the six leaned in to set the little sterling silver charms to the one Kara already wore, it made a whole pizza.

They all enthused over the sweet gift and hugged it out, swapping around helping one another put the necklaces on. Lena was fingering hers, delighted to be part of the game night pizza group, when Alex wrapped her up in a one-armed hug. Her voice was an intimate aside in the midst of the noisy group.

"I do actually have something for you, Lena. Here."

It wasn't wrapped, but a little Christmas bow had been stuck onto the cover. Lena looked curiously at the sheaf of half-pages, neatly bound together with a spiral binding. The cheerful landscape sketch and the words 'Engage Me' gave no indication of what it was about. Sitting, she patted the place beside her so that they could cuddle.

"I realized I had nothing for you," Alex said softly, rubbing her fingers over the edge of the book and Lena's thumb. "And what do you get the girl who has everything? Thankfully, my reporter sister is smart as hell and told me I was being a nervous idiot and we cooked this up."

"I believe my exact quote was, 'oh no, Alex!'," Kara teased. "This project was fun. I provided layout and binding and a few ideas and sketches."

The pages were each marked with a different event and decorated simply. There was 'revisit the observatory', 'surfing lessons', 'indefinite free passes for cuddles', 'another drive in movie, but maybe in a car at somewhere where we can make out', 'a night on the town to go dancing', 'a movie night in where you can pick whatever and Alex can't complain' and the one that finally made Lena look up again, her expression shaky and adoring. 'One embarrassing story about baby Alex from Eliza. Pictures included.'

"That one was my idea!" Kara bragged even as Lena stroked Alex's face adoringly. 

"It's a voucher book."

It was all written in her shaky, unpracticed left hand writing, cheesy and heartfelt and homemade and Lena loved it.

"Oh, and check it out," Alex enthused and dug out her phone to thumb at it. "We even modified a list app. Ignore the silly name."

It read, 'Checklist to be a good girlfriend', making Lena giggle wetly and read some of the text there. 

'Make sure she eats and doesn't overwork. Make sure to always cuddle her to sleep. Always check in when we don't spend the night together. Let her steal whatever sweatshirts she wants and cycle through them so they smell like you. Pick up Lena's favorite junk food and wine when at the store. Kiss her good morning and good night.'

"I wanna make sure I get it right," Alex said quietly, her smitten heart shining in her eyes and Lena fell in love with her all over again. 

"Make time for love and not just work," Lena murmured as she kissed her love sweetly. "Be willing to be vulnerable. Talk things out. Say… say 'I love you' and say it often. Would you make me a copy of your list? So that I can add to it?"

No one in the room had the heart to do more than 'awww' at them and ignore their affection.

"This seems like as good a time as any," Jess chimed up suddenly and hoisted an overstuffed canvas bag over the edge of the couch to nearly spill it over the distracted couple. "For this."

From it came a baseball-style cap that landed loosely on Alex's head and made her laugh. "Excellent! An L-Corp hat to match my one from the bar Kara brought me! Thanks Jess."

"I completely forgot I even asked you for this," Lena chuckled as she fingered the bill of the hat and Jess smiled mischievously and upended the bag over the pair.

"Oh, I went ten steps further. A good assistant always knows."

It looked like a tourist kiosk had upchucked over Lena and Alex, dozens and dozens of L-Corp themed paraphernalia scattered over the couch and floor. It was mugs and pencils and bags and waterbottles. Winn squealed happily at a fancy computer mouse still in its blister pack and slightly dusty from sitting around for months and Bug snatched up a t-shirt that would have only fit possibly James comfortably. 

"Ha! Got the lanyard!" Kara crowed and mocked Winn as he lunged for it. "I'm totally wearing this to work, just to annoy Snapper."

When Jess plucked another one nearly out of Alex's cleavage, Winn went from pouting to heart-eyes. 

Sandy laughed over an umbrella and popped it open to vamp dramatically while Jess teased, "those have been going fast lately." 

Lena was mystified at the swag, fingering a phone case emblazoned with the now-familiar 'L' symbol she had helped design. "Where did this all even come from?"

"I raided the company store."

The baffled look on Lena's face was priceless. "We have a company store?"

Jess only laughed with real affection for this woman she had known for so long. "It's a little corner kiosk in the cafeteria. These are all leftovers from the company renaming."

"Oh, I suppose I did know there was a cafeteria."

"But you have no idea where it is, right?"

"No, I really don't…"

Alex ended up with a pencil tucked into her matching baseball cap as she settled back in to let Tilly show off the goodies she'd collected from the mess. No one was really paid much attention when she ripped the colorful paper off of a smallish box and the look on her face caught everyone's interest.

"A toaster?" Alex puzzled and Maggie nearly choked. "Is this some sort of weird housewarming gift? We're not living here forever, Susan."

"Oh my god, Vasquez, you didn't!"

While Maggie howled with laughter at the tail end of her mini-rant, Lucy smacked a smug Susan in the shoulder. "You asshole! I can't believe I didn't think of that myself!"

Alex looked around in complete puzzlement as everyone joined in on the merriment. Even her mother seemed to get the joke, though at least Kara looked just as confused.

"It's a gay thing, Danvers," Maggie finally explained, but really, didn't explain anything at all.

"Where did that even start, anyway?" Eliza asked and Susan chimed up.

"Ellen DeGeneres' variety show years ago. It was the episode with Melissa Etheridge, I remember that. It was a prize, Alex, for coming out. It goes with the U-Haul joke Kara used already."

Still baffled, Alex looked at the cheap toaster's box and just sighed. They were all insane, but she loved them anyway.

She laughed over the Ghostbusters Lego set and Bug was just as excited by the prospect of helping put the vehicles and characters together, even though they had to wait to get into all the little pieces. And as much as Winn was clearly reluctant to trump that, he still delighted in Alex's pleased shock over the fancy gaming glasses that she'd been borrowing and he wallowed in the long hug.

Kara retrieved a colorfully wrapped box and sat on the floor where Tilly perked up in curiosity. "Hey, Matilda. Since you're new too, we couldn't go so crazy with gifts. But Lena and Alex and me know that you like to draw, so we got to talking. Merry Christmas."

Shocked, Tilly didn't react to the box being held out towards her, jumping a little when her folks reached down to pet her head and ear.

"For me?" she whispered and wonderingly took the box. "Oh, it's heavy."

"Just pull the trailing end of the ribbon and the lid will lift off. I did that so that you have a nice, sturdy box to keep everything in."

The look of wonder on the child's face was something to behold as she goggled at the bounty within.

"I have lots of supplies and I wanted to share."

The box was a treasure trove of art supplies. Two pads of good paper, a full and half-sheet size, a sturdy little pencil sharpener and a dozens of colored pencils bundled in snug rubber bands. There was even a starter pack of crayons tucked in with the rest.

"Now you can draw as often as you like."

Kara relished the child's hug every bit as much as her folks did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [3/30/2017] Shatterpath: because she might as well adopt Winn already. that would be a sweet holiday gift, actually. Specifically from ALEX. like something that reads Schott-Danvers. A t-shirt or something.   
> SPL: no I know! stealing from The Fosters Xmas. Alex's gift to Winn is an ornament that says "Baby's First Christmas 2016". he thinks she's making fun of him.   
> Shatterpath: OMG THAT'S PERF AWWWWWWWWWWW


	5. Family Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shout caught everyone's attention, held it in Alex's maniacal laugh and the way Kara pretended to pounce on her. Under different circumstances, tickling would have followed, but Kara sufficed with just roughly ruffling Alex's wild reddish hair. That was a perfect cue for Bug to stop pouting about having to wear shoes and drag Lena over to join them. Full of affection for her best friend and her lover, Lena smiled at the sister's antics.

There wasn't much left of the gift haul, Carter scrounging around the cluster of little trees and amidst the fallen gift-wrapping to make sure nothing had been missed. One little stray he read the tag on and handed it over to a surprised Maggie. She read 'From: Santa' and peered around the group, half of whom were barely paying attention. Beneath the colorful paper was a crinkly plastic-wrapped ornament of a leg cast in white and red with a little bauble hanging from the toes that bore her name that made her cackle in delight. No one 'fessed up to it, but really, it could have been any or all of them.

Kara and Lena huddled up to share the gifts they had thought out for one another, their friendship old enough to have let them plan ahead. There was much giggling and hugging, a sweet microcosm of their completely unexpected and so very welcome bond. They were too enticing for Matilda to resist and she padded over to join in on the hugs.

"We'll stop in a bookstore soon too," Lena promised as Tilly sprawled out all over her, exhausted from all the interaction and excitement. "We can find the book that the Matilda movie was based on."

Tilly twisted her head to peer at her in wonder. "It was a book?"

"Yep. The author has lots of books. We can read them together."

Matilda sighed gustily and snuggled in tighter, her whole body relaxed in trusting abandon. "I'd like that."

Awash in emotion, Lena held her close and stroked her wiry hair. "I promise to always keep you in books, sweetheart."

When Kara reached the cardboard box containing the bulk of Lena's gifts, she paused at her bestie's headshake. "I think we're pretty worn out right now. Those can wait until later."

"Okay, sure."

No one was going to argue, what with Bug nearly asleep against her chest and throat. When Alex joined them, snuggling into Lena's side, she smiled at the nuzzle to her scalp and the whispered, "I'll make good on the promise of that green lingerie soon, baby."

Alex just hid her smile in Lena's shoulder.

In the lull, Susan, Kyra and Reba excused themselves to go next door and call the family back in Texas. That was the cue for a very quiet Cat to stand and stretch like her namesake. "I think I'll use this as an excuse to head home."

The chorus of disappointment-- none louder than Carter-- took her aback then coaxed out a smile.

"Tell you what. We'll come back this evening for dinner? I can raid my wine collection for a few gifts. And return your clothing, Alex."

That placated them and Kara startled at the big hug she was wrapped up in by both Grants that she happily returned. Cat lingered as Carter scampered to gather his things, looking up meaningfully into Kara's familiar blue eyes. "Thank you," she said simply as she handed back the cape to its owner and gave those strong hands a squeeze. 

"I think I'll do the same," Jess announced, giving Lena's shoulder a squeeze. She sensed the core group needed a little time to not have to edit what they said so carefully. "And getting together for dinner sounds great. Miss Grant, can I offer you and Carter a ride?"

"That would be welcome, thank you Jess. Careful Lena, I might steal her!"

They bundled up in their fine warm coats that looked ridiculous against their borrowed comfy clothes and slipped away.

"C'mon, Deathwish," Lucy said cheerfully as the door clicked shut and hopped up to prod bossily at Maggie. "I'm not taking you to the DEO looking like a homeless mongrel. Up!"

Grumbling and rolling her eyes, Maggie painstakingly obeyed, leaning forward to lightly head-butt Lucy in the stomach and soak up the affectionate slap to the head. But for all their horsing around, Lucy was tender and solicitous in helping Maggie hobble back to her little borrowed room next door.

"Back in a flash," was all the warning Maggie got before Lucy grabbed a stack of black fabric and vanished back out the door. Half relieved and half disappointed, Maggie managed to awkwardly strip her lower half and get into clean underwear before starting the laborious process of getting into sweatpants. Before she could do more than get her good leg wrestled into a convenient position, Lucy was back, completely dressed for work, right down to her snugly laced boots.

"How…" Maggie marveled and Lucy only smirked and tossed her armload of colorful clothing on the bed and knelt to the do the awkward work of getting feet into pantlegs. 

"Career military makes for a quick-change artist. Got socks?"

"Yeah, here," Maggie replied, distractedly handing them over as she fingered the collar of Lucy's discarded hot pink shirt, her expression thoughtful. "Y'know, we're all damn curious, right?"

As much as her cop instincts had warned her it was a touchy subject, Maggie didn't expect the black hurricane of emotion that tore at Lucy's lovely face and shuddered down her body.

"Not now. Please, Maggie. I promise I'll tell you, but not on Christmas."

"Hey, you don't have to tell me anything," Maggie reassured gently, surprised to see how shaken Lucy was. For all her flash and sass, the woman was clearly hurting. "I didn't mean to pry."

Scooting forward, Maggie tugged at her companion and for a long moment, they simply clung to one another and breathed.

Having helped Alex into warmer clothing, Lena sent her off to join her family on one of the couches with an affectionate slap to the rear. Then she turned her attention to Winn, who had once again taken over Maggie's recliner. Matilda was perched on the armrest, chattering excitedly about the movie she had watched the day before and gotten her proper name. Winn was being a good brother and listened attentively, a fond smile curling his mouth. The little grin blossomed into something wider as Lena noisily snuck up on the little girl to wrap her up in a full-bodied hug. Squealing and giggling, Bug squirmed but made no attempt to escape. Wrapped up in one another, the pair were off towards the bed to poke through the little pile of clothes provided by Eliza and Reba.

"So, I told Matilda that I'd talk to you guys about making her officially part of the family," Alex suddenly blurted out into the quiet that had fallen over the small group of herself and her immediate family. Eliza tightened her loose hug where her eldest had slouched into her and Kara smirked sassily. 

"You mean she's not already?" Relishing her sister's smirk, Kara rambled on. "She fits right in. Super smart and adapts fast even when she panics. And look at her; not so quiet and shy anymore."

"She's getting to be quite the chatterbox," Alex agreed happily, smiling at Tilly's wild gestures and Lena's laugh of delight at something she'd said. Stripping down matter-of-factly, Tilly slipped into one of Alex's black shirts that was as big as a dress on her and her brightly patterned Christmas sweater. She cheerfully explained the clever modification made to some loose pants to close around her tail instead of the front while Lena helped out.

"It's a lot of work," Eliza added in thoughtfully, determined to be the voice of reason, but more gently than she had done in the past. "But adoption is worth it."

Kara beamed at her while Alex smirked and dug an elbow into her sister's belly. "At least I know how to work with Bug. She's a lot like you. Smart, but naive, new to everything, strong, fast, and odd." That earned her a sardonic, but adoring look. "She's just smaller. Cuter too."

"Hey!"

Eliza couldn't keep her chuckle in, watching them affectionately bicker. "Kara, she's seven. And the smallest seven year old I've ever seen to boot. You're not going to win this argument. You were twelve when you came to live with us. You were past the cute awkward phase."

"I resent that," the Kryptonian sulked dramatically and Alex looked mockingly horrified.

"You mean it could have been worse?"

"Shut it, Alex. Eliza, she's being mean!"

The shout caught everyone's attention, held it in Alex's maniacal laugh and the way Kara pretended to pounce on her. Under different circumstances, tickling would have followed, but Kara sufficed with just roughly ruffling Alex's wild reddish hair. That was a perfect cue for Bug to stop pouting about having to wear shoes and drag Lena over to join them. Full of affection for her best friend and her lover, Lena smiled at the sister's antics. "I can't leave you two alone for a moment."

Eliza made no attempt to hold in her laugh. The puzzled delight radiating off of both Lena and Matilda was both infectious and melancholy. Both had missed so much in the abuses heaped on them. Well, their new family would continue to leverage love and care against that.

"Don't mind the girls. They're just being silly," Eliza said wryly and her smile deepened as Alex's laughter dissolved into girlish giggling while Tilly watched with wide eyes.

"Auntie Kara isn't really mad?"

That stopped the horsing around, but Eliza spoke breezily to offset the awkwardness. "Oh goodness no. She's just harassing Alex for being the obnoxious older sibling we didn't plan her to be."

"I was never supposed to have a sibling?" Alex wheezed as she was finally able to sit up and lean into Kara's warmth in a half-cuddle.

Eliza's expression was as placid as her voice. "You were a menace even before birth. I barely survived you. I was not doing that again. We loved you, honey, but you were actually the worst birth. And then when you started to develop and be more independent, yikes. Once we saw your terrible twos we knew we wouldn't survive another one. We barely survived you."

Kara wasn't the only one who snickered at Alex's half-amused sulk. "I was not that bad!"

"Alex, you blew up the house. Twice. You cost us as much in repairs as Kara ever did. Probably more. You were seven when you first blew something up."

"Oh, please don't encourage the kid…"

"I only hope you don't suffer through that like your father and I did but knowing you…"

"Oh no, no, no. No bio-kids for me. I'm perfectly happy to be an adoptive mom. Oh, hey, c'mere you two. Hugs before we head out."

That got everyone up and moving, Lucy going to the twins to speak with them. "If you get Maggie, I'll go help Susan okay?" then she immediately went to where Susan and her Harts had joined them. "I'll take good care of her, I promise."

Susan grinned and didn't avoid Lucy ducking under her good left arm while Alex cuddled Lena to her side and chuckled at Bug crouched at her feet, busily tying her shoes.

"I don't like shoes," Bug said proudly as she finished up and bounced over to her small collection of things. "But I get bored and like to learn things."

Maggie was sulking over the lightweight wheelchair making an appearance, but burst out laughing when Tilly climbed onto the back of it, wrapping herself around the dark head and demanding a ride.

Winn opted to stay put and keep the Harts company while James decided to head home for a bit. "I'll be back for dinner too. Merry Christmas everyone!"

While preparations for the outing were being finalized, Lena cuddled into Alex side and nuzzled her jaw. "You must have been a beautiful child."

Eliza smiled at how Alex looked delighted and flustered at Lena's wistful musing. "She was. A wiry little waif all skinny limbs and bright eyes and a wild ruff or hair redder than it is now."

"I promise to provide pictures," Kara stage-whispered conspiratorially as she herded them out the door to lock up behind them. Alex only snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, just none of those stupid baby pics where I always look so pissed off."

"Alex, sweetie, you were always pissed off," Eliza couldn't resist teasing and the others laughed as they gathered at the freight elevator. Still, not wanting to return to the cold war they had suffered for far too long, Eliza immediately gentled. "Okay, not so much pissed off as… dissatisfied. You had to pull everything apart and do your damnest to figure out how it worked. Experiences, devices, emotions, everything. Honestly, I don't know how you didn't electrocute yourself or get locked up for murder."

"Manslaughter," Alex added in, her tone utterly blasé. "Murder indicates premeditation. Though there was that mean kid down the street…"

Her smug delight in the other's amusement was endearing, Lena chuckling and kissing her chin. "Were you really that much of a terror?"

Alex's look of wide-eyed innocence was belied by the mischievousness that clung to her like a second skin.

"Oh no you don't," Eliza objected playfully and smiled at Lena. "Don't be fooled by that innocent act. Let me tell you about the time her tiny two year old self ended up in the roof."

"The roof?" Lena parroted back, torn between delight and horror.

"One word. Parachute."

That was the cue for the elevator to rattle open while the gang eyed a smug Alex with various levels of amusement.

"Jeremiah was getting something out of the attic and there was a fan vent barely big enough for a cat, much less a toddler."

"I was a climber," Alex bragged and relished her mother's exasperated affection.

"And could squeeze yourself into the most astonishing places, I swear."

"Two years old," Lena marveled at her smirking girlfriend and Eliza echoed her with a chuckle.

"Two years old."

"How?"

"To this day I'm not sure, but we couldn't find her for hours. Somehow she not only shut the fan off, but took it apart, shimmied up the pipe and removed the reinforced housing in the open air above the roof level."

They all stared at Alex, who shrugged with a deadpan expression. "Don't look at me, I have no recollection of these events." 

No one was certain if she was telling the truth or yanking their chains. 

On the ground floor, they piled out while snickering, Eliza picking up the thread of the tale while Kara locked the elevator up. "It turns out she'd fallen asleep up there in the sunshine with this beautifully crafted parachute that thankfully was never field tested. Much to her noisy displeasure. Jeremiah managed to get to within ten feet of the ground before she woke up enough to tantrum. And, yes, she knocked them both down."

The riot of laughter was a joyous celebration of friends and family.

"Oh my god, tiny Alex asleep spread eagle on the roof with her parachute!" Lucy squealed in complete hysterics, her own shadows chased back for the moment. "That's freakin' adorable!"

"Tiny little explorer snores!" Lena laughed wildly and for the first time in her life, Alex really understood the value in the story. This stranger she had brought into her family by falling in love with her was taking such delight in it. When the whole gang of them paused at the cars and looked expectantly at Eliza, she happily finished the tale, her expression adoring. "I think Jeremiah was more hysterical than I was. First with fear, and then with amusement. At least they mostly missed the rose bushes. Though I still had to pick thorns out of both of them."

"Now that I remember," Alex added in with a laugh. "And on that note, saddle up. We'll see you guys there."

The twins headrubbed Bug before taking over getting Maggie into the rental van still in Lucy's possession and shooing Susan off to the front seat. Kara slipped away and the rest of them packed into Eliza's rental.

And they were away.


	6. The the DEO We Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leaving behind Sandy and Lucy with J'onn, the group of them left the bullpen and moved down more hallways, stopped by several more well-wishers, Susan and Maggie dropped off in non-critical care where Alex promised to join them as soon as she could. Then they came to rest at one of the many nondescript doors where the Danvers sisters seemed caught between resignation and trepidation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dammit, I still can't find the original post about Pam…  
> https://kassebaum.tumblr.com/post/159694488961/so-my-wife-and-i-were-having-a-discussion-about#notes 
> 
> theillogicalthinker: All these couples are forming this way "What are we even?"  
> Shatterpath: THAT. Am I beating the theme to death? HAHAHAHAHA! And now I'M doing it! I crack myself up. "Muses, so what are we even?"

The parking garage at the old building that now belonged to the Danvers sisters was a dim, dirty cave in reflection of its advanced age and questionable upkeep. The DEO was the polar opposite. Like the silvery glass edifice that hid in plain sight amid National City's grove of skyscrapers, the garage was sprawling and well-lit, with good eye-lines and few places to hide. 

Lucy took a few more minutes with the big van and the others met them there, where the twins were unloading Maggie out of the back. And it was Maggie that called out the stress painting the Mutates tense and a little wild-eyed. "Hey. Hey! Fuzzies, it's okay. This isn't that hell-pit and no one is going to come at you with cattleprods and chains as long as you don't do anything stupid."

It was a little harsh, but the twins in particular unwound a bit, tails lashing not quite so violently, pupils not quite so blown out in alarm. Bug remained clinging like a leach to Lena, quiet but trusting in the love she had found in these people. Maggie tugged at the twins until they knelt at either side of her wheelchair, flinching when a car passed by. They rubbed up against her hands when she cupped their cheeks. 

"You need the DEO, like it or not. They've got the resources you need, and the expertise and their rules don't completely suck." That earned a faint quirk of grin on both their faces and Maggie was relieved. "One of us will be with you and you can ask any damn question that runs through your head. We'll answer as best we can."

Shan broke first, looking pleadingly at her sister for guidance and reassurance. After a moment, Ro blew out a hard breath and nodded, leaning in to press her forehead to Maggie's jaw. That was that, the twins on their feet as though nothing had happened. Their calm translated to tiny Twenty-Six where she clung to her favored adults and the motley pack moved out. 

"You're good, Sawyer," Sandy complimented. "If you ever get sick of the blue line, you come see me."

"Suck up," Lucy mocked lightly as she toggled one of the handful of elevators with her badge and stood back to deliberately raise her head for the security system to get a good look at her. The elevator car was a tight fit, but none of them wanted to be separated. There was no pause in their glide upward and Lucy quirked a tight smile. "Director's perk."

Her body language was as foreign, so different, that she might as well have been a really terrible shapeshifter. This was not their funny, sassy Lucy. This was Director Lane and all weight that came with that title and the hard experiences that led to the title. Though her assistance to Susan's battered body never wavered from being gentle and caring.

The elevator dropped them into an oddly-shaped hallway that the warriors in the group recognized as a kill-box where the security system discretely watched them through quiet ports all over.

"We'll keep the fanfare down as best we can," Lucy explained as she stepped out, bringing Susan with her. "That's why I brought you up to the administration area. Sometimes peace and quiet can be a blessing. Come on then."

Past closed doors and an empty receptionist area, the strange crowd trooped, startling a single office worker who only blinked in surprise once. Past glass-walled laboratories and heavily armored doors and workout rooms, they followed the faint sounds of life until they at last came to the enormous bullpen that was the heart of the DEO. J'onn caught sight of them as Lena was suffused with memories. Her eyes flickered from Susan to Maggie and they smiled gently.

"You brought me here. When…"

When the Medusa Virus had painted the sky gold. When Lena had turned in her mother to the authorities. When she had needed Alex's touch to bring her back from the yawning pit of despair within herself.

Lena jumped like a startled cat at the gentle touch on her chin, coaxing her head around, Alex's lips a comforting press between her eyebrows. The others flowed around them like water, leaving them a moment of privacy as J'onn greeted all of them.

"Good to see you all and Merry Christmas. Welcome to the Department of Extranormal Operations."

In the double handful or so of agents in the big room, they universally looked delighted to see the group. The twins were utterly nonplussed by several strangers in black approaching with hearty handshakes and kind words about seeing them again. But even more so was Lena's startled bafflement at the warm respect and gratitude from some of those same agents and more besides.

Kara, returned from the sunlight above the clouds, looked as pleased as her sister at Lena's wonderment at strangers seeing her past her last name.

Leaving behind Sandy and Lucy with J'onn, the group of them left the bullpen and moved down more hallways, stopped by several more well-wishers, Susan and Maggie dropped off in non-critical care where Alex promised to join them as soon as she could. Then they came to rest at one of the many nondescript doors where the Danvers sisters seemed caught between resignation and trepidation.

Behind the door lay an ordinary, albeit large, office. There was a raised counter with an open door behind it, a large table stacked neatly with forms and a little seating area furnished with a low table and a jar of pens.

"Hey Pam?" Kara called out hesitantly and was immediately answered by a woman's voice beyond the open door. 

"Supergirl. How can I help you?"

"So… umm, I guess Alex and I need a couple of forms."

"Aren't they on your designated table?"

"It isn't about Alex going rogue or using excessive force again."

"Unsurprisingly as she managed to get herself spindled again. So what have you two done this time?"

"Well…"

Stepping out of the back area, a tiny flicker of surprise passed over Pam's face at the assembly before she smiled faintly. "Good to see everyone." Grabbing something from under the counter, she stepped out, left hand behind her back and right extended to the twins. "Pam Tucker. I'll be doing your paperwork today. Ro and Shan, correct?"

Still jumpy, the twins merely nodded, shaking her hand jerkily. They still seemed more the animalistic ghosts from that hell-pit in the desert than the warm, smart souls the gang had been getting to know. Even with Alex and Lena cradling her between, even having briefly met Pam at the Christmas party, Bug was picking up on the twins alarm and was jumpy herself. So Pam deployed her secret weapon, acquired for exactly this purpose.

"So, since I'm a friend of J'onn's," she was clearly uncomfortable using the man's first name with such familiarity, but soldiered on, "and he spoke so warmly about your large furry friends," leaning just a bit closer and cupping her free hand around her mouth, her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper that made Bug giggle. "And I don't mean the tall ones behind you." Straightening up again, Pam was once more all business. "I took the liberty of acquiring portable versions of them. Small enough for a pocket or two."

Bug gasped in wonder as, from behind her back, Pam produced a pair of very small, cartoonishly adorable cats. They were like her large friends only in their coloring and round eyes, but as she wonderingly accepted the gifts, it was quite clear she loved them just as they were.

"Now you have your protectors even when they can't be close."

Reaching over the counter, she came up with two more of the little kitty toys, this time in grey and black, with bright blue eyes. The twins were nearly too startled to accept them, utterly confounded with the gift. 

"For contrast," Pam explained calmly, and that pleasant business completed, the unassuming woman fixed the non-fuzzy adults with a glower that could have melted steel. 

"Are we in trouble?"

Bug's tentative little question was curious and not a little worried. Pam instantly gentled. "No, no, child, you're great. It's just, your new grownup here causes me headaches. She really doesn't like all this boring paperwork."

"I really don't. Sorry Pam."

"I'm used to it, troublemaker." Instantly back to business, Pam shifted her gaze, her wry. "Now, Miss Luthor, Doctor Danvers, if you'd make yourselves comfortable, you're going to be here for awhile."

Eliza sighed in resignation as she was handed a sheaf of papers and a tablet, but Lena hesitantly objected, "but I..."

"Oh no, Miss Luthor, Director J'onzz's NDA only covered the basics. And it's clear we won't have any more luck keeping you from all this than we did with Detective Sawyer." 

A pointed look made Alex flinch. "We dropped her off in the infirmary to have her leg checked."

Nodding decisively, Pam turned her attention back to Lena. "We're still working on the documentation on your Big Gun, but we'll get to that in time. Not that it has any use without the Omegahedron, which I'm quite sure Director Henshaw will not let leave the vault any time--"

"Y'know," Kara broke in suddenly and Pam blinked at her. "By all rights, that is mine. So far as we know, Myself and Kal-El are the only survivors of Krypton and I am the senior member of my house." It was rare that Pam was left nonplussed, but Kara had caught her completely off guard. Despite the unfortunately familiar pain of that scar, Kara would not take her hurt out on Pam.

"Right, I'll discuss it with him." Pam hedged, catching up with the conversation. "I'll be sure to remind him to keep me posted. Uh, please make sure all the personal information in your documentation is correct. Oh, and your names were short for Rowan and Killashandra? Did I say it right?"

The twins looked delighted.

"Good. Now, the documents read Smith just as a filler. Feel free to chose any last name you like and I will draw up accurate documentation."

Sharing a long glance, the twins shrugged and Ro spoke. "Smith is as good a name as any."

"How did you know all of this?" Alex marveled and utterly unimpressed, Pam merely gave Alex a flat look. But there was a hint of mischief dancing around the corners. 

"I asked Susan, of course."

Alex only blinked while Kara spluttered with laughter. 

 

\----

The non-emergency clinic at the DEO was an open room of exam beds, a few of them for lying prone like the one Susan had sacked out on. The rest were in a half-reclining position, arm and leg rests adjustable for the patients. Aside from feeling childishly tiny in the device, Maggie wasn't uncomfortable, just bored. It wasn't as if she could randomly troll Instagram while in the confines of the heavily fortified building.

With a rush of sound from outside, the exam room door swung open to admit a non-descript woman in business casual wear. She was familiar, but Maggie couldn't place her…

"Detective Sawyer, a pleasure," the newcomer said crisply, but with an edge in her tone that made Maggie want to sit up straight lest she get in trouble with the teacher. "Yourself and Agent Danvers have been predictably remiss in attending to the supposedly secret part of this organization, and as you are unable to duck me at this time," the pointed look flashed at the lightweight wheelchair was actually pretty funny, "this seems an ideal opportunity to accost you."

For a moment, Maggie wasn't certain how to play the situation and fell back to old habits. "Sure, but are you sure I'm your type? I mean, we just met."

The woman actually paused, blinked, and then gave Maggie's utterly innocent expression a shrewd glare before smiling faintly. "I see why Danvers likes you. Pam Tucker, HR. Hands up."

"Is this a stick up?" Maggie sassed weakly as a thick sheaf of papers was handed over.

"Read and initial, Detective."

Riffling the pinky-thick stack of paper, Maggie was relieved. "Well this isn't so bad."

Now Pam was distinctly amused as she handed over a large electronic tablet. "Those are just the sheets to initial. I suggest you read your homework carefully so that we don't have to kill you later."

Before Maggie could do more than make a sound like an unhappily wet dog, Pam hustled out and left her to her fate. 

 

\----

With Eliza and Lena pouring over paperwork, Alex decided to use her time wisely and get the Mutates down to the medical lab. They weren't real happy with the clear intent of the place, but seemed relieved at the brightly lit, pristine nature of the place. Alex waved off the nurses and hopped up on a diagnosis bed to lay back and relax while the fuzzy trio sniffed over the room. They had to accept their new lives on their own terms and Bug would come to her if she was needed. 

Half-asleep, Alex was notably placid in going with a technician to a medical scanner that looked like Earth's medical imagery equipment had been abducted by Star Trek aliens, had a wild party, and then got sent home with some really cool toys. Sleepy and passive, Alex laid out on the padded surface and allowed the tech to gently stretch her broken hand away from her body, supported by a padded spar.

"Oh, leave off, Harold," she half instructed and half teased as the tech tried to shoo away the fascinated Mutates. "They're not hurting anything. It's just my arm."

Grumbling, the tech went to the control console and tapped away at it, letting the machine hum to life like a giant electromagnet. When Bug pressed up against the bed and hooked her chin over the edge, asking quiet questions and soaking up the gentle strokes to her head, Alex maundered on about tissue densities and three dimensional imagery and meshing Human and Alien technology.

With a little prodding and some big, pleading eyes from a very curious Bug, Harold caved and brought up the scans in his miniature version of the 3D transmitter that went with the scanner. It was a break in protocol, letting the patient see the scans before the doctor. And there was some merit to that, a worry that the patient might misdiagnose what was seen in the scan, be it a simple x-ray or the sophisticated, 3D image of the mauled hand, rendered life sized and with perfect details.

Because most people didn't have the sort of medical training that Alex did. But even the most ignorant could have seen it.

The damage was not healing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an ooooooold IM convo and helped focus in this key point in the story.  
> theillogicalthinker: HAVE WE TALKED ABOUT PAM IN HR? Because we need to mention her  
> Shatterpath: AND NO WE HAVE NOT, WHAT IS WRONG WITH US??????????  
> theillogicalthinker: WE GOT DISTRACTED BY ALL THE OTHER SHIT WE WERE DOING. BUT OMG THE NEXT TIME THEY GO INTO THE DEO ALEX AND LENA NEED TO FILL OUT ALL THE FORMS ALSO MAGGIE  
> Shatterpath: YES! they legit were busy af, but you bet Pam's there with a BIG FUCK ALL STACK of paperwork.


	7. A Better Taste Of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Groaning with the effort, Maggie sat forward on the exam bed, stretching out her back and desperately wishing that she could just walk somewhere. Anywhere! There was so much tension in her body from inactivity she felt like she was going insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to say again how glad I am that I've been able to pull of Sanvers-as-friends, because that really shines in this chapter. There is also a bit more backstory on the Mutates.
> 
> And for all of you that have been patiently waiting for it… (drumroll please) SAWLANE!!

Some dreadfully interminable time later, Maggie was about ready to see if she could stab herself into a coma with the ballpoint pen provided by the evil Pam from HR. Or do something immature like throw something at Susan where she rested, just so that someone could share her pain. So caught up in the reading, Maggie had barely even noticed the doctor poking at her leg somewhere in the middle of the Legalese Swamp. The physical pain was preferable to this…

Maggie actually cringed when the door opened again, and nearly fainted with relief at the now familiar laugh that warmed the sterile room.

"You look even less happy than Mama Danvers, Hot Cop. Even Best Luthor is starting to wilt beneath the force of nature that is Pam and her evil legion of paperwork." Leaning against Maggie's shoulder, Lucy squinted at the text on the tablet and the sheaf of papers bearing a lot of Maggie's cramped initials. "Still, you've made good progress. You are actually reading, right? Storing the basics away? Not being a truant troublemaker?"

"Yes, Counselor Smartass, I'm actually reading it. Despite wanting to spork my eyes out."

"Fair enough. Don't let me keep you from your homework then."

Hooking a rolling stool with her foot, Lucy settled onto it with no further comment. For a bit longer, Maggie managed to stay focused, despite the distraction sitting quietly beside her, flipping through some papers.

"Ugh!" She finally broke explosively, waving her hands around and nearly sending her papers flying. Only the slightest bit startled, Lucy leaned away from the flailing and watched with sardonic amusement. "This is worse than being in court! At least there I can people watch!"

Groaning with the effort, Maggie sat forward on the exam bed, stretching out her back and desperately wishing that she could just walk somewhere. Anywhere! There was so much tension in her body from inactivity she felt like she was going insane.

A warm hand gliding up and down her sore back was a welcome touch, soothing and a little arousing. Where she cradled her head in her hands, Maggie made a throaty, approving sound. 

"The document is tedious, I know, but it will protect you and us."

This was Director Lane talking and Maggie realized that, no matter the sweet touch on her back. There was a change in the smaller woman's body language, a weight of seriousness that was always there, just not always at the forefront. In spite of her wild temper and humor, this was an experienced and dangerous professional. It was pretty sexy, and Maggie had no problem admitting that to herself.  
With the mischievous, dimply grin that had melted far harder hearts than Lucy's, Maggie teased, "not fair that you're hot and smart. Sheesh."

Strangely, Lucy seemed a little unnerved by the compliment, her mossy green eyes evasive and Maggie's good humor began to deflate. Setting aside her papers, Lucy traced nervous, random patterns on Maggie's thigh and cleared her throat roughly. Somehow the nervous body language, the cessation of that wild energy, was as reminder just how small she was.

"So what are we doing anyway?" Lucy abruptly blurted out, not quite able to look Maggie in the eye. "'Cause I seem to be unable to stay away, and I'm not complaining because you're fascinating, but I'm getting unnerved…"

The words fell away as Maggie twisted her torso just to the edge of putting her leg in danger of slipping from the padded platform it lay on. Even with the broken limb like an anchor, she was determined to do this.

Wavering unsteadily-- but at least the armrest pressing into her gut replaced the crutches-- brought their bodies closer.

"Can I kiss you?" she asked very quietly, reaching up to finger one of the loose curls that framed Lucy's face. Nodding eagerly, Lucy met her halfway, both their lips soft and cool. It was the most undramatic of kisses, calm and sweet, lips caressing in welcome curiosity about the other. 

"Can I kiss you back?" Lucy asked quietly, their lips still brushing. It was strange and grounding to have her so soft, almost tentative, lending the moment some weight.

"I'd like that," Maggie murmured back, her smile bright. Unable to resist, Lucy nuzzled over those fine facial muscles and soft skin, running her nose and a line of little kisses over the sweet little pucker of dimple. 

Their second kiss was a much more intimate affair, a meeting of nerves and hope that settled something in each of them.

For all that Kara was confused as to her own wants and needs, she was an utter romantic, through and through. And while the ability to see though walls could come in handy, it was useless to take pictures with. So she grinned and stored the away the memory of Maggie and Lucy's getting to know you kisses. She was happy for her pals and glad for the confirmation Maggie was definitely not going to be a stumbling block for Alex anymore.

Pleased, she half-skipped off, zeroing in on Alex's heartbeat and sobered when she could hear the stress telegraphed there. Thankfully, she peeked through the wall and stopped herself up short from barging into the room because the medical tech was bent over Tilly, taking a blood sample from her arm. The child was snug in Alex's arms, clearly tense and unhappy, while the twins hovered close by.

Kara didn't envy the tech one bit. He looked ready to weep with relief when she stepped in and the trio of adult glowers snapped over to her before softening. "Are you guys terrorizing poor Harold?"

They didn't look sheepish exactly, but they did relax a bit. Admittedly with some grumbling that brought a little smile to Kara and Tilly's faces.

"Are you done getting poked?" she asked her almost-niece gently as she stepped over to stroke her head where she nestled against Alex. Bug reached out and trailed her fingertip over the house crest on Kara's chest.

"Do you get poked sometimes?"

"Yep. Even I get hurt sometimes and have to be taken care of. I'm not always invulnerable and figuring that out was not a pretty lesson. I was very unhappy the first time I had to watch myself bleed and that's a fact. In fact, I broke my arm that same day, but unlike poor Alex, mine healed up once my powers finally came back." The patter had gotten Tilly distracted from her tension of being prodded at and Kara smiled as she offered open arms. "Come squeeze on me for a bit and we'll all go see Pam to get the boring stuff done."

For a moment, Tilly hesitated, but nodded and clambered into Kara's arms to cling as hard as she could. She might be a runt for her age, but she was all muscle!

Each of the trio of Earthly adults sported little cottonballs strapped to their elbows, clearly having set an example for the nervous child. Kara gathered a weary-looking Alex under her arm and smiled in warm sympathy at the twins.

"Even grumpy space dad has to get poked sometimes," she teased as she dragged her family out and Tilly giggled a bit against her neck. "If you wanted them to be calmer, Alex, you should have waited until one of the women medical techs were in there, instead of poor Harold."

Alex scoffed and then suddenly halted in her tracks, expression alarmed. "Wait, Bug, honey, when you said you didn't like males, there was more to that comment, wasn't there?"

Tilly nodded, but it was Shan that actually answered. "The Administrator," she growled the title around vicious teeth like she would like to put them to use on Lena's mother. "Kept us segregated from the males unless they were watched over by our keepers. Or…" the growling was forcibly swallowed down, the heavier ruff of fur at her collar fluffed up with stress. "Or violence was required."

Kara might be near-invulnerable to physical harm, but she could still feel the strength in Twenty-Six's grip around her neck and waist. Ro rested a gentle hand on Shan's shoulder and they leaned their heads together in quiet comfort for a moment while Alex looked horrified. She nearly startled when Ro reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"You couldn't have known, Alex. Less than a week ago we were still locked in those neural collars, hoping that the strangers in the pit were there to help. And you were." Her smile was melancholy and warm with gratitude. "Isolating us from males prevented most of the obvious abuses. We three were guarded the most closely, as we were valuable in different ways than our sister-cousins."

"All the Mutates were female?"

"Yes. The Metahuman gene is carried in the X chromosome and the X is also a larger, sturdier genome, so it made sense. Also, the females of most species are far less likely to be aggressive to one another and the three of us were spliced with at least one social species to reinforce that. Wolves and gorilla and chimpanzee are obvious, and foxes have very tight family units. Matilda is a much more sophisticated entity than we are, what with twelve more years of research gone into her creation. Her DNA is far more complicated and her physical form less… patchwork." With a self-depreciating gesture, Ro waved a hand down her body. "We were full of surprises, not the least of which was surviving to maturity."

"Well, I can guess the albinism wasn't deliberate," Alex said somewhat lamely, at a loss of what to else to say.

"And being twins," Shan chimed in. "They let me survive partly out of curiosity and partly to have a control."

Alex felt ill, reading between the lines of what Shan was saying. She was the one they left alone for the most part, concentrating experiments on her larger, quieter sister. Once again, Ro squeezed her shoulder, those deeply red eyes calm and understanding. "You got us out, that's what's important now. The rest will heal as it heals and nothing will rush that."

It was the first time Alex had gotten into the twin's personal space, wrapping an arm around Ro and pressing her face into Shan's shoulder, nearly in tears. They merely purred softly and wrapped her up in a big, warm hug.

After a long moment, Alex leaned away, clearing her throat and rubbing at bright eyes. "Come on, let's go find your pack."

The non-emergency part of the clinic was close by and gave Alex a few moments to compose herself. So she was prepared to react accordingly.

"Oh, get a room," she taunted as they walked in and interrupted sweet kisses between their pals. She was pretty sure Maggie was flushing under her warm coloring and the back of Lucy's neck was distinctly red. 

"Shut it, Danvers," Maggie mock-growled and Alex pressed fingers to her heart and pasted on her best 'who me' face.

Susan chuckled where she was laid out and Alex walked over to shake her foot. "Playing dead on the job?"

"Not hardly," Susan snorted and her grin deepened. "But who am I to mess up someone else's game?"

"Oh, they got game alright."

"Oww, don't make me laugh!"

"You're really antsy," Lucy tried to soothe Maggie, utterly ignoring Alex even when she muttered something that might have been, 'I bet.' "Hey, would you like to go swimming?"

All Maggie could do was stare at her like she was insane. "It's December and hello, broken leg."

"In a nice, heated, enclosed pool with chlorine, you hick," Lucy snarked with a glare. "And you can't convince me there isn't some heftier version of your shower sleeve thingy for swimming."

The comment about being antsy was spot on and Maggie rubbed rough hands over her face. "God, I'd just about give up my badge to get some exercise."

The whole gang of them looked over to the doors at Lena's familiar voice where she had joined them. "I can do you one better. I have a swim-spa at my condo. It'll take a bit to get it warmed up, but I can send it a text message." Maggie and Lucy just stared while Alex chuckled in delight. No one was sure if Lena was messing with them again when she said innocently, "what? It has that capacity."

"That's pretty extra," Lucy said and Lena shrugged half in amusement and half self-consciously. Alex pulled her into a one-armed hug, any reticence about their location chased away by her love's discomfort.

"It's pretty sweet," Alex leered and her smile was filthy where she rubbed her nose against Lena's temple. "And probably clean from the last time we used it."

"Overshare," Lucy sing-songed while Lena blushed and pressed her face into Alex's neck.

"Hey. You know I love me some sass," Maggie almost whined, "but could maybe we get your doc back in here to see if my side can be submerged longer than a shower? Because a pool sounds like heaven right now. God, I'll rent a fucking wetsuit if I have to."

"Drysuit," Alex teased and got a dirty look.

"Oh can it, surfergirl."

"What, you forgot to ask before?"

"Y'know, I don't remember you being this insufferably mouthy before," Maggie drawled with an irritation that might have been convincing if her eyes weren't crinkled with amusement. Alex just threw her head back and laughed. "I was distracted by Pam from HR's disclaimer from hell. This is all your fault."

Alex only shrugged and her smirk was pure mischief. "Just because you couldn't keep your nose outta my business."

There was a jolt of discomfort from that comment, but it passed so quickly as to be nearly unnoticeable. They really had moved on and it felt… healthy, solid, better healed than their broken bones. Maggie picked up the thread of their snark-fest. "Yeah, well, someone kept busting into my crime scenes."

"Your crime scenes?"

Lucy just shook her head at the two of them while Lena sidled over to her with a grin. "Do you think I could get at the EMPOS for a few minutes?" The soft aside made Lucy stare uncomprehendingly at her pal and Lena sighed. "The Big Gun."

"Oh, yeah, I suppose. Why?" There was more curiosity than suspicion in the query and Lena was warmed by that.

"I just don't want to leave the Omegahedron plugged in and it really should be secured properly. I doubt anyone has touched it after Winn and I tossed around so much gallows humor."

Huffing with amusement, Lucy raised her voice over Alex and Maggie's playful bickering. "Yo, New York and Gotham, it's not a competition."

"You should talk!" Alex sassed and laughed, earning a dry look from Lucy.

"Mags is right, you have gotten mouthier. I'm stealing your girl while we here. You break that one, you bought her."

Alex's playful shout followed them out. "Pfft, she's already broken, and volunteered for it!"

As they walked away Lucy couldn't help but tease, "they must actually really like us or they wouldn't be showing off like a pair of hyper puppies."

Lena wasn't quite able to stifle down her high-pitched giggle.


	8. The Power of Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With those sweet kisses to bolster her, Lena let a blinking Alex up for air, tracing the shape of her expressive mouth and eyes. Breathing deep, she shifted her attention down, where Tilly remained hanging around her waist, face hopeful.
> 
> Happy Mabon (the autumnal equinox) everybody!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uuuuuuuuugh, I got all sniffly doing my final re-read here! I couldn't be adore and be more happy for Tilly if she were a real kid!
> 
> theillogicalthinker: Good little chat with Pam  
> Shatterpath: omg, PAM. her tormenting Maggie is pure gold  
> theillogicalthinker: Look, Pam knows everything and she totally ships all the things. She just wishes people would do the proper paperwork.

Despite Maggie's despondent puppy face at being left behind, Alex herded the Mutates and Kara away to return to Pam's clutches. Being away from anything resembling a laboratory had the twins and Bug perked up, peering through every glass wall and gawking out the enormous windows.

"We're really high up," Tilly whispered, eyes huge in her face where she remained clinging to Kara. "Do you think I'll ever get used to all these big spaces?"

Alex shifted to wrap up her kid and sister in as best a hug as she could, grunting when the twins nearly smother-hugged her and Bug in the middle of the loving crush.

"Of course you will," Ro reassured her little cousin. "You've already learned so much, even in just a week. And you're the smartest person we've ever known and gotten into a pack with some more smart, loving people. You'll do great."

Chirping happily in contrast to the gloom and rain outside, Bug rubbed heads with each of her adults and they could move on. 

In a heavily fortified armory a few floors below, Lena pried open the armored box that contained the EMPOS. Both she and Lucy flinched at the stink of ozone, abused machinery, and death that wafted out as the lid fell away. 

"Guess no one's touched it," Lena said with a false levity ruined by the tremble in her voice. The piecemeal weapon had been shoved roughly into its prison, the heavy cable kinked, backpack housing banged up… and the business end bent and scarred. Lena had seen the x-rays of Alex's shattered right hand, been around that cast for a week now, but somehow seeing the damage dealt to the gun wand drove home just how badly Alex had been hurt. "Give me a hand."

Together, the friends pried the heavy device out of the box, ignoring the greasy and gritty feel of the shoulder straps and the silvery scrapes where Alex had dragged the thing across the floor. Grumbling faintly, Lucy sucked a speckle of blood from her finger where the aluminum had been scraped sharp. "Come on, let's find you a lab with tools so you can pry this beast open."

Shouldering the heavy power pack, Lucy let Lena take the wand and led them away from the armory. Behind a locked door was a small room of lockers and a spotless workbench. After a sharply alert glance around, Lucy unceremoniously dumped the pack on the bench, ignoring Lena's wince. 

"This is a gun work room, so it should have any tools you need. Let me scare them up."

There was no response and Lucy made sure to drag a toolkit from one of the lockers before turning and facing her unexpected friend.

"Hey," she prodded and waited patiently until Lena's glassy green eyes rose to meet her. "You saved her life with that damn thing." Skepticism shaded Lena's gaze almost grey and Lucy tossed the kit onto the bench to step over and grab her elbows. "Listen to me. There's a lot you don't know, don't understand about Alex, okay? She would have died there, without a fucking peep of complaint, to stop Henshaw. That's just her. You gave her the tool that let her walk out. Yes, spindled and a little mutilated but alive. No one will forget that." Backing off in intensity, Lucy stepped away, clearly uncomfortable about something only passingly familiar with the moment. "So, tools. Need a hand with the heart surgery?"

Shaking her head mutely, Lena took a deep breath and concentrated on the task at hand. Calm descended again, but she could feel the tension bubbling just under the surface of her pal. 

"Did you want to talk about it?"

Such a blunt statement wasn't really typical of Lena and both women paused. Lucy understood the alarm and defensiveness that rattled through her, but not the… resignation.

"You mean about my dad."

Slowly, Lena nodded, her eyes stormy where she looked over her shoulder. Lucy blew out a hard breath and raked her hand through her hair before nodding. 

"I suppose I have to talk about it sometime. Better you than Maggie. Ugh, why did it have to be Christmas?" Despite being so anxious, Lucy plowed ahead, not giving Lena a chance to say a word. "Cadmus had some government backing until last year, before things got… weird. That's how my father was involved. He's a general, if you didn't know. The Army was how I tried to follow in his footsteps, be what he seemed to want. Still, Lois seemed to always be his favorite, no matter what I did." 

Lena absorbed that and nodded encouragingly as she backed screw after screw out of their threads. Feeling the pangs of mixed feelings about what was left of their families was especially sharp on this holiday, of all days.

"He hated the DEO with a fiery passion I shared once, only because it was his. I didn't make a good impression when I came here, that's for damn sure. When the DEO was focused on controlling and killing, it was the sharp spear he wanted, then Kara went and came out of hiding, put that damn suit on, and everything changed."

Lena left off her fiddling to look up, her curiosity and mixed feelings naked on her face.

"Kara is pretty good at fitting in, because she was in hiding her whole life. That damn plane forced her out, and she rewrote the whole organization nearly overnight. I should have known something wasn't quite right when I saw how… crazed my dad got. There was a… violence that came over him like nothing I had ever seen."

But Lena knew all too well, had seen the same change come over her brother. His madness differed only in that it had taken place in the light of day, not the shadows of false legitimacy provided by government sanctions. Innocents had died in both scenarios.

"I went along with it all like a good soldier, even as I grew uncomfortable, so, so uncomfortable. Then… Henshaw revealed himself as J'onn and it all blew apart."

There was real stress in Lucy's breathing and Lena grew concerned.

"Cadmus sent a specialist, a frothing xenophobe safe in his uniform and… and I helped him." Her voice would have been a wail had she not been so breathless and her eyes burned with tears. "Slapped the cuffs on J'onn, on Alex, because she wouldn't turn on him. They were on a truck headed north, probably to that godforsaken pit in the desert, when Kara and I hijacked the damn thing. They escaped into the night until we could clear the whole thing up."

"So you saved her too. Even if she was a little spindled and broken?"

There was a startled pause then, as the truth settled into both of their bones. Lucy was shocked to hear herself huff out a strangled laugh around the aching lump in her throat. "Yeah, I… I suppose I did at that. Thanks Lena, for the ear… for everything. You and me and Winn, right?"

Lena offered a hand, taken aback when Lucy gently twisted her wrist so that she could high-five her.

"We should invite the twins to join. Bug might be a little young for it, but then again, she's a damn smart kid."

"That she is."

The last screw came loose and Lena pried it open to lift out the placidly blue Omegahedron and handed it over with no hesitation.

"Hard to believe something the size of a small apple could power an entire city," Lucy mused as she let the sphere roll around her palm for a long moment. For a lack of what better to do, Lena quickly reassembled the housing and screws.

"I'm not a fan of waste," she explained herself and missed the fond look Lucy shot at her.

 

\---

Eased a bit for the sharing, Lucy and Lena made their quiet way back to HR, the stink of past battle left behind in the heavily fortified armory. Tilly's delighted voice floated down the hall as they approached. "You're being naughty!"

Pam's voice reached them as the friends stepped around the doorframe. "Look, Agent Danvers, I'm happy to ship your OTP, but can you do your paperwork correctly just once? In the spirit of Christmas?"

While Kara cracked up, Lena caught Alex's gaze and mouthed, 'OTP?'

"I ship it!" Kara crowed like a kid on too much sugar, setting the Mutates and Lucy to giggling. "Pam ships it! It's the ship of dreams!" Alex's dry look only goaded Kara on. "Not the Titanic, and you're so much better than Jack and Rose!" Sweetly amused, Lena felt all those big, warm feelings flood through her at Alex's expression, at Kara's adamant statement of, "she would never leave you in the freezing water, Alex."

Even the unflappable Pam, who prided herself on never breaking character-- as it were-- started snickering at the antics. After a moment of looking startled that she had done so, Pam shooed at Kara. "Supergirl, you're holding up some pretty important stuff. Do you not want Matilda as your niece?"

"Oh right! Of course-- I mean, gosh, what is that noise?" Kara rambled on and with a somewhat confusing gesture, she was gone in a primary-colored blur, not even pausing to acknowledge Lena and Lucy, hovering at the doorway.

Not quite panicking at the reflexive swirl of panic in her gut over all these emotions and attachments, Lena muttered under her breath, "nothing, just my internal screaming."

Only Lucy and Pam were close enough to catch the comment and their low chuckles were pure empathy.

With her back to the door, and distracted by Kara's horsing around, Tilly had no idea no idea her other grownup was close by when she looked at Alex and asked, "where's my Lena?"

There was something that could have been hope or panic in Alex's face at that. Following her eyeline, Matilda twisted around in her seat and lit up with a pure delight that shook Lena. Like a magnet to iron, she scampered over to throw her arms around Lena's waist and snuggle in. Propping her chin against Lena's belly, the little girl rambled on. 

"My paperwork is almost done now, but your name isn't on it. If your name is on the papers I can call you Mommy too, right? An' then we can all have the same last name and people can't be mean to you anymore. 'Cause I know your mommy was bad, and some people think you're bad too, and that Alex is trouble, but I just don' see it. Me and Ro an' Shan came from a bad place and we're not bad! Why should you be?"

With a hard squeeze, Tilly left Lena frozen in shock to bounce over to Pam, the stranger in the room, and grabbed her hand.

"You don' think Lena is bad, do you? She's so nice and warm and smart."

For a moment, Pam seemed torn, her gaze flicking from Tilly's imploring little face to a very still Lena and back again. When the smile bloomed over her serious countenance, there was some new warm emotion there. "No, child, I don't think your Lena is bad at all. None of us have to be where we came from, no matter what our last name is."

That pleased Tilly and she grabbed her papers before returning to Lena to point adamantly at them with a blunt claw. 

"I get to be a Danvers, an' Winn too! An' you can be too! Then people can't be mean to you 'cause of your name."

Abruptly, Alex realized that she better get her ass involved in the decidedly one-sided conversation before it spiraled out of control. But when she approached the new girls in her life, all thoughts fell out of her head, only the adoration she felt for both that filled up all those once-cold places in her.

"I'd like that," Alex whispered, sweet and shy, caught up in Lena's wide gaze. "This is all stuff we still have to talk about, Bug. We're not quite there yet but one day soon okay?"

Rolling her eyes at her exasperating adults, Tilly grumped, "I don't see why we don't all have the same last name and jus' be a family."

"Maybe one day, Tilly." 

"Oh sweetie, you truly want to be ours?"

Alex and Lena spoke nearly at the same moment and Matilda once more squeezed her more reluctant parent. Her voice was muffled and vulnerable where she mashed her face against Lena's warmth. "I wanna be yours just like you're mine."

And there was the crux of it and Lena knew it. She'd known it since the first time she and this sweet, scarred little stranger had first touched souls. Just as she'd known it when she at last had accepted the love she felt for a distinctly alarmed-looking Alex. And once again, she found new strength in that, hooking a hand around Alex's neck to drag her close, kissing her like the world was going to end, Tilly happily trapped between them.

Neither commented on the taste of tears that had wet Lena's cheeks.

With those sweet kisses to bolster her, Lena let a blinking Alex up for air, tracing the shape of her expressive mouth and eyes. Breathing deep, she shifted her attention down, where Tilly remained hanging around her waist, face hopeful.

"Okay, sweet girl, I'm ready to be your other… mommy." The title rattled her, but Lena gamely marshaled her emotional reserves. "We'll worry about names later."

And that was how Lena Luthor found herself signing the paperwork to be the second legal guardian of this foundling child. She was too rattled to even take a close look at the details, trusting the group of friends around her, and the obviously efficient Pam. Emotionally exhausted, she retreated to Alex, leaning hard into her.

"I'm sure I've had a reflexive panic attack of some sort about five times a day since meeting you, Tiger," Lena murmured, sweet kisses taking any sting from her words. "Though mostly I barely notice them anymore. You're worth it."

"So are you, Lena. Love you."

"Love you too."

Thoughtfully, Matilda stared at the names on her new paperwork. Her own name, her very own name! Matilda Eliza Danvers. And the signatures of the two women who had taught her so much in such a short time and were promising to do that for the rest of her life. There were so many big feelings in her that she really didn't know what to with them all.

"This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good."

Puzzled, Lena realized that the words had been spoken as though from memory, and they felt distantly familiar to her. "I like that, sweetie. Where is it from?"

"From Stitch. He was built an' programmed to be destructive and bad and he came out good too. He just needed a family that loved him."

Their little group hug meant even more to them now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been dying to use Stitch's unforgettable quote for ages! And here at last is the perfect place.


	9. Overwhelmed, But In A Good Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halfway to hyperventilating, Lena obeyed, leaning into her lover's strong, solid body, her anchor and haven. Despite the surroundings, Alex didn't hesitate to wrap her good arm around her lover while she clung and breathed heavily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoy the little moments I can get in with Lena and Jess.

Pam kindly took mercy on them after that, shooing them all out with dire warnings for the paperwork afflicted to return ASAP and finish up their homework. Tilly clutched her sheaf of legal papers as though they were a lifeline and alternated leaning into each of her newly minted parents. 

Her new grandmother and great grandmother had quiet welcomes and gentle touches, echoed in the smiling twins. It was Shan that scooped Tilly up to be cuddled, the taller Mutate hovering close to the couple's back as they were herded away from HR by a very quiet Lucy.

Lena's mind was racing like a bullet train, too fast and chaotic to do more than hang on for dear life. Some part of her felt like the only thing tethering her to reality was the warmth of the Mutates at her back and Alex's left hand gripped painfully tight in her right. She caught J'onn explaining that he had sent Kara out to patrol the city for a bit, "to keep her out of your hair." Sandy was pestering him about coming over for dinner while Eliza chuckled along and the thin crowd of DEO agents moved about.

"You holdin' up okay?" Alex asked quietly and Lena jumped and focused in on her voice. 

"Umm, truthfully? No, I'm pretty overwhelmed and my head is full of DEO disclaimers. I could really use some decompression time, or some mind-numbing paperwork, but it's Christmas and it would be weird to just leave and--"

Lena gasped in near-pain as Alex's strong left hand compressed around her fingers, hard, just for a moment. "Babe, breathe."

Halfway to hyperventilating, Lena obeyed, leaning into her lover's strong, solid body, her anchor and haven. Despite the surroundings, Alex didn't hesitate to wrap her good arm around her lover while she clung and breathed heavily.

"The comfort of work, of routine, of knowing what's expected of you, that's real, Lee. Don't be ashamed of that. I knew what I was getting into when I aligned my life to yours. I have to share you with the larger parts of who you are and that includes L-Corp. And there's going to come a day when the roles are reversed, when I can't come home because of all of this."

Through the easing of her panic, Lena heard the smile in Alex's voice when she continued.

"And who was melting down earlier about this hand? Hmm?"

"God, I love you so much," Lena blurted out, feather soft. "You're amazing."

Alex merely shrugged. "You bring out the best in me."

Blinking away tears, Lena stole a little kiss to Alex's neck before breathing deeply and leaning away. For a moment she touched foreheads in lieu of a kiss and turned to a wide-eyed Tilly. "Come here, sweetie." Willingly, Tilly accepted being passed on, clinging to her Lena. 

"Do you remember earlier today? You felt so overwhelmed you panicked? You just needed a little time to calm down and settle into yourself again, right? Well, sometimes, for grownups, that means work. Right now, a little work time would do me a lot of good to settle my mind."

Twenty-Six understood adults and work, for that had been most of her existence around them. Kindnesses had been sparing at best and explanations even rarer. "You'll come home for dinner?"

"I will absolutely come home for dinner. Now, how about we cuddle until I have to go?"

As Maggie and Susan rejoined the group and they headed to the elevators, Lena tried to fish her phone out of her pocket, Alex helping out and then tucking her hand back into that same pocket. While a pleading text massage was tapped out to Jess, Alex spoke quietly, her voice light. 

"You missed the great middle name debate, Lee. Little Miss Cutie here," a quick kiss to the head earned a little giggle from Tilly. "Couldn't decided on Mom's name or Kara's. Decided she was going to save Kara's for her little sister. What a kid, already volunteering us for more." 

It took a little effort, but Lena didn't drop the phone.

Swinging by L-Corp to drop Lena off had hit a snag in Alex and Bug's worry over their loved one, which made Lena hesitate. She really did need some processing time, but not at their expense. To her shock, the van pulled up and the twins hopped out into the drizzly grey day, crowding her at the side of Eliza's car.

"Hey kid," Ro said quietly. "If your Lena doesn't mind, we'll stay and guard her, okay? Who could she possibly be safer with than us?"

"Supergirl," Tilly said sarcastically and the group's quiet laughter did much to dispel the gloom.

"True, but we won't distract her like Supergirl would."

Lena bent into the car for a couple of last kisses for her girls. "I will absolutely keep the twins with me. See you in a few hours."

"At four hours, I'm sending Supergirl," Alex sassed as the door closed and the car pulled away, leaving Lena not quite alone at the foot of the edifice of her legacy.

"Thank you," she murmured as she watched the car fade into the gloom.

"You're welcome. We're family now, right?" Ro said quietly and Lena looked up into the matching pairs of ruby eyes.

"You're right, we are. Well, come inside and let's get you sorted with security, okay?"

Jess 'eep'ed a little in surprise at the presence of the twins, pouring over several pieces of fancy tech Lena had provided for their entertainment. They were sprawled out on their bellies on the floor of the reception area and smiled sheepishly at her.

"We're bodyguarding."

"Are we in the way?"

Unable to tell them apart just yet, Jess shook her head and found a warm smile. If they cared enough to watch over Lena, that was enough to put them in her good books. "No, you're fine there. Did she give you the mark four? There's a processor upgrade that is going to make Apple cringe."

That had the tall twosome looking at the thin laptop with more interest and Jess skirted around them to power up her own computer and fish some documents from her desk. Then she tapped at Lena's door and waited to be called in. It could have been any workday, except for the red sweatshirt stamped with large letters, USC.

"This chair is too tall for sneakers," Lena commented dryly and Jess chuckled and pulled up a chair. For a good length of time they worked quietly, with a minimum of conversation, looking over at the door where the twins laughter sounded a couple of times. After a couple of hours, Jess stretched and unfolded from her chair.

"I'm calling a break. I know we have a dinner engagement, but I've heard both of our stomachs growl."

While she collected bottles of water and bags of smoked almonds, Lena found herself staring out her windows to the cityscape beyond.

"I signed adoption papers for Matilda today."

That made Jess pause for only a moment before she returned to her seat and set out the snacks. "Good. Your little and your girlfriend are good for you."

The comment registered, Jess knew it had, but Lena didn't react save the almost frantic way she wobbled her pen between her fingers.

"She is good for me."

It made Jess ache to hear that vulnerable note, as though Lena were trying to convince herself of the truth.

"She wants me as family."

"You have a kid together. You're basically there." Jess' teasing tone was lost on Lena as she finally turned around to reveal her half-panicked expression.

"No, I mean she admitted to wanting to marry me. Soon even!"

If there was ever a time for Jess to be her no-bullshit self, this was it. So she easily projected the rock solid certainty that had bolstered her boss on the regular for more than ten years. "Of course she does. You're both smitten. It's sweet. And legal now, despite the machinations of stupid old white men."  
Lena didn't rise to the humor, her fretting still obvious.

"It's too soon…" Lena whispered fretfully, desperate for reassurance. 

"Maybe for some, that might be true, but I haven't seen you truly happy since your brother stopped being your brother, Lena. And Al? She makes you happy."

That started getting through to her, the pinprick pupils relaxing. "I only just figured out I love her."

The childish whine in that statement was hilarious, but Jess let none of that show. "Then just keep loving her and your new little family." Tapping her fingers hard against the metal desk made a sharp sound that focused Lena's attention further. "You've gone through enough together that would break even the strongest and longest relationships. This is real. I've known you for ten years, Lena, and I have never bullshitted or sugarcoated anything for you."

And finally, Lena swallowed hard and nodded; first weakly and then with more conviction. So Jess backed off her intensity, injected a little tease into her voice.

"You just needed some reassurance from someone other than Kara Sunshine, who thinks Alex, and now you, hung the moon and stars." That left Lena flustered all over again, her face open and vulnerable. "Now, I think I can safely make an educated guess that your Al isn't the type to do things by halves." Then she grinned slyly, no longer the secretary and emotional rock, but the friend she had become with time and trust. "Just promise me that I am invited to the wedding and get to be godmother of at least one of your children."

"Children?!" the aghast squeal made Jess laugh and laugh.

"Oh please, you're totally having babies with her."

Her eyeroll was pure affection.

 

\----

Exhausted and exhilarated from the trip to the DEO, the gang was more than ready to spill back into Kara's apartment, waiting impatiently while the Kryptonian fiddled at her door lock. When the door did swing open, they were assaulted by the smell of yummy things cooking. Naturally, Alex moved forward, only to bounce off her sister hard enough to nearly trip herself up and take out a still-wobbly Susan right behind her.

"Kar--"

"There's a dog in my apartment."

Kara's breathless shock was a truism as she stared at the handsome black lab seated placidly on her hardwood floor. She was an older dog, graying a bit about the muzzle, but still bright-eyed and curious, tail starting to wag slowly.

"Kara, for gods sake, will you move your ass? We're exhausted," Alex whined as she stepped to the side to slip past her sister's immovable frame. Only to blink in surprise at their unexpected guest. "Oh. There really is a dog in your apartment."

"Hey, wall o Danvers, now no one can get by," Maggie snarked lightheartedly, but her tone bore an edge of pain and exhaustion she could barely hide. 

Somewhat tentatively, the sisters stepped over to the labrador, Alex half crouching to offer her good hand while the others ranged out into the loft. "Hi there, pretty girl. Do you belong to someone?"

The dog sniffed at Alex's hand and had no objections to a pet over her sleek head and ears, but was far more curious about Kara, the deep amber eyes calm and unwavering. Too curious to resist, Kara dropped to one knee and mimicked what Alex had done, utterly charmed when the dog not only accepted the pet, but her tail increased its slow, regular cadence.

"Where you at, escape artist?" a familiar voice called out and the dog's tail sped up to a welcoming staccato beat even as her eyes never wavered from Kara. "Oh, you're all back. Have you seen…" Around the corner of the loft's kitchen stepped Angie, her expression lighting up as she looked towards the door. "There you are!"

Joining the sisters and their new friend, she ruffled the black ears and accepted the hard lean into her hip.

"I'm sooooo sorry to spring this on you, and I really hope no one here hates dogs, but I swear she's really calm and smart and sweet as long as no one messes with me and no one here is gonna do that! I've been so busy lately we've barely seen each other and she looked so sad when I went to leave again because my uncle was being such an ass and my aunt wouldn't get off my case about finding a man and I'm so damn sick of being stuck on repeat with her because apparently the word lesbian simply doesn't register in her stubborn mind! I was only going to stop by for a quick hello, but Reba and Kyra and Winn wouldn't let me leave just because I wasn't alone and I got talking with Winn about dogs and…"

The rush of words finally tapered off as the dog stepped in close to where Kara still knelt, hypnotized by her presence, and leaned into the delighted alien.

"Oohhh puppy," Kara nearly squeaked with the visceral thrill of the animal's trust and so very carefully pet over the sleek head and wiry ruff and back. "Of course it's fine! You couldn't leave her all by herself on Christmas. Especially if she's been missing you. She's so pretty. What's her name?"

Angie knelt to toss a negligently affectionate arm around her dog and pat strong ribs. "Why, Peggy, of course."

Remembering the fangirling of the night before over Peggy Carter, Kara giggled winningly and continued loving all over her new pal. "She's wonderful. Hi Peggy."

"She really likes you," Angie complimented with real delight. "She's not normally so… cuddly. A friend of mine back in New York was fostering her and was so worried because Peggy here was so standoffish to people. Oh, she was well-mannered and all, just didn't really bond, y'know? Then we clicked and I fell head over heels. Another factor in moving cross country, because if my super had found out about her, there would have been some serious hell to pay." A little cloud of regret passed over Angie's face and she slowed in her caresses for her dog. "I didn't expect that I'd be so busy at this job." Shaking off her melancholy, she brightened once more. "Still, it's really nice to have someone to come home to."

Kara made a childishly delighted sound when Peggy didn't just lean into her, but swiped a little kiss to her chin. Angie could only marvel at her normally standoffish, overprotective companion charming the pants off the pretty girl with the sunny grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shatterpath: AND I MIGHT HAVE AN IDEA. a little one. to add to Xmas  
> What if Angie.... has a dog? her name is Peggy  
> theillogicalthinker: Kara may fall in love then and there. When that dog gets introduced to kara just watch kara ignore everyone and everything else


	10. Giddy With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tilly was torn between the novelty of the dog and curiosity about the cluster of activity around food prep. But Alex would always be her strongest draw, her calm harbor. When she padded over and put small arms on her new mom's waist, Alex gave her that smile, the one that made the whole, crazy world around her okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, on a personal note, I only just now realized that my toy Hudson Hornet-- From the first Cars movie-- that sits below my keyboard has a personal connection to this story. Or I simply forgot. I'd buy it either way.

Alex slipped away, knowing that she had lost Kara for the time being, but not before snapping off a few pictures. Picking the best one, she sent it to Lena with the caption, _looks like we have a couple extra guests for dinner. I think Kara is in love._

Even as she stepped over to where Bug clung to Eliza in a full-bodied hug, her phone chimed. Lena's response made her chuckle softly.

_With the dog, or the girl?_

"Go figure that a dog could distract your stomach," Alex teased and tucked away her phone to smooth back Tilly's wild hair and smile warmly. "Matilda, sweetie? Do you want to meet the nice dog?"

There was enough hesitation that Alex didn't press and concentrated instead on how Tilly sniffed at the air. 

"Could I eat? Something smells really good."

"That's my cue!" Angie gushed happily and gave both Kara and Peggy a last pat before standing. "I brought some stuff, because no self-respecting Italian shows up without food. In fact, I brought a whole box of stuff, because there's always too much anyway. I gambled that you'd forgive me taking over your kitchen if I fed you." 

There were a pair of cardboard boxes sitting out on Kara's kitchen island. From one came dishes and trays and plastic storage containers.

"Now, I remember you liked the savories with just a touch of sweet. It just so happens that my Aunt Maria, while being a terror of a matriarch, makes the most amazing pumpkin pie."

From a heavy glass dish, Angie served up a big, orange slice. Curious, and nose twitching, Bug left off clinging to Eliza and crouched on one of the stools. All snappy patter and smiles, Angie offered up a trio of eating utensils. "Would you like a fork, a spoon, ooooor, my personal favorite, a spork!"

"Ooooo!" Bug marveled at the unusual eating device and Angie willingly handed it over. "Mama Alex, look, it's both!"

Alex ooo-ed and aahh-ed at the spork and obligingly took the bite of pie offered, startling at the flavor. "Wow, Angie, this really is good. What's in it?"

"No idea. The old warhorse will probably take the secret to the grave."

More goodies were being pulled from the second box then and Lucy finally verbalized it. "That's a lot of food."

"The vegetarian-- maybe a bit of fish-- is only for Christmas Eve. Day is a whole different ballgame. Where is that damn… Ah ha! My Uncle Marty is a jerk, but he cures his own meats and sausages. Who is the no dairy again?"

When Maggie raised her hand, Angie smiled winningly and walked over a large plastic storage tray of many small compartments.

"I can't guarantee that there's none in the pie, but this will help make up for it. In fact this and the pie will probably be the thing I'll get yelled at about later. Worth it! He's not a cheese fan, so I doubt there's any in there. If there is, I'm sure someone will take it off your hands."

Maggie was delighted with the riot of colorful cured meats and olives, tiny onions and artichoke hearts in briny, oily goodness and growled at Lucy filching nibblies from the corners and humming happily. Though Lucy made up for her thievery in kisses. Which also distracted Maggie so that more of the delicious fare could be stolen. 

From the boxes came a full three loaves of crispy-crust bread, a half-full bottle of olive oil without a lick of English on it and a pungent vinegar in an old wine bottle.

"You're serious about this stuff," Alex marveled and Angie laughed while she pulled out a couple more wine bottles, handing one to Alex.

"Familial traditions. You can split this with the rest of the gimps. It's a surprisingly decent non-alcoholic wine. My cousin Jerry is on the wagon. I just grabbed what I could transport. The really good, slow-cooked stuff I could only snag small amounts of."

"We've never done unusually fancy eating on Christmas, so this is a welcome surprise. Don't eat too much, guys, we'll do dinner properly in a few hours when everyone comes back. You're a lifesaver, Angie, because now that I think about it, how were we going to feed everyone?"

Completely ignoring the food-- and didn't Alex gawk over that-- Kara scooped up Peggy's bulk as though she was no more than a tiny puppy-- and didn't Angie gawk over that \-- and carried her over to one of the rental couches.

"Oh, Kara bring her close enough so that I can pet her? Please?" Maggie begged with big puppy eyes of her own. "I haven't had a dog since--" pain flashed across her face, but she forcibly shook it off. "Since I was kid."

"Sure," Kara enthused and tugged a sofa over to nestle against Maggie's recliner. While Kara seemed oblivious to the peek into some old hurt of her pal's, Alex and Lucy shared knowing glances. 

Rather than reach out to the dog, Maggie left her upturned palm where it could be explored at leisure. The move worked, Peggy sniffing and then nosing at her for pets while Kara curled up at her side. That convinced Bug to grab the last slice of pie and pad over to her aunt and hand it over. Peggy seemed a bit taken aback at how the child smelled, but did nothing about it. She was far more interested in the attention and Angie beamed like a delighted parent.

Soon Reba and Kyra were brought in by the noise and a yell dragged Winn away from his videogames to join them as well. The gang ranged between hanging out and helping getting the process of dinner started.

Tilly was torn between the novelty of the dog and curiosity about the cluster of activity around food prep. But Alex would always be her strongest draw, her calm harbor. When she padded over and put small arms on her new mom's waist, Alex gave her that smile, the one that made the whole, crazy world around her okay.

"Hey sweetie, would you like to watch?"

Nodding eagerly, Tilly climbed up the stool and settled her small self under the broken arm, cuddled close to Alex's warm body. Someone had wrapped a plastic bag around the cast and it clumsily braced a split, brightly orange vegetable that smelled both sweet and sulfurous. Alex picked up the large knife she'd rested beside the vegetable and began meticulously slicing it into thin crescents. 

"Angie was worried that I couldn't do this with my left hand, but I'm lucky that I'm mostly ambidextrous."

"What's that?"

"It means that I can use both hands with nearly equal ease. The vast majority of people favor one hand over the other, it's just how we people are wired. I've noticed that you use your left a lot too, which is less common than being right handed."

Setting the knife down, Alex picked up one of the slices and bit it neatly in half before handing the rest off to Tilly, who sniffed it over before nibbling.

"That's a sweet pepper. They come in green and yellow and red too. They're yummy raw or cooked."

Alex pretended to ignore how Eliza snapped pictures, her expression soft and adoring.

Angie caught on quickly when she handed a little piece of braised beef over for sampling and Tilly looked at it before shooting Alex an unsure stare. A slightly larger piece shared between them had the child happily chewing away at the tender, slow-cooked meat.

It wasn't long before her belly was mostly full and she was yawning and nestling into Alex.

"You look like you've had a busy day," Angie observed kindly and Tilly lit up, halfway between shy and delighted.

"I got my name today! An' I got 'dopted! There's papers too, but they're with my sweater."

"That's wonderful!" Angie gushed and looked at Alex with real respect.

"That reminds me," Kara suddenly half yelled and finally broke away from her obsession with Peggy to vault over the back of the couch and stalk over. "Alexandra Danvers, at least the third!"

It took effort for Eliza not to choke on her laughter. Sandy didn't bother to even try. Trying to charm her way out of being in trouble, Alex said weakly, "hey, you're not allowed to call me that…"

Kara's glower could have curdled milk and she drew out her annoyed articulation of her sister's name in proper annoyed little sister fashion. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaalex! You pre-proposed to Lena!" For a moment Kara's comical outrage faded as her brows beetled together. "Well, you sort of did, I couldn't really hear the whole thing. But Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalex!" Once more she wailed melodramatically to a chorus of snickering. "You better propose properly! That's my best friend we're talking about here!"

Then, abruptly she was pure needy gentleness, wrapping Alex and Bug in a careful hug.

"And you. I want you to be happy."

A little choked up, Alex wrapped her left arm around her sister's neck and squeezed. When she did speak, her voice was a little shaky. "Sooooo, I'm in love with your best friend."

"I know. She loves you too."

"And we adopted this great kid together."

"I have such a cute niece!"

Bug giggled when the sisters both pressed kisses to her head and gave her a squeeze.

"And I totally admitted to wanting to make Lena a Danvers too."

"I heard!"

"Nosy."

"Okay, one, rude. Two, super-hearing…" pausing with a faintly alarmed look, Kara struggled to cover herself with Angie and the Harts within earshot. "Uh, I mean, super good hearing, duh."

Sighing at how Kara always seemed to turn into a blathering idiot around pretty girls, Alex just let it go. "And on that note, I think that's our cue for a little nap, Bug. Mom, can we borrow your bed?"

"Of course. We'll come get you for dinner, or send Lena your way when she gets here."

"Sounds perfect."

 

\----

It said something important that Alex didn't so much as twitch when Lena slipped into the room and clicked the door closed behind her. A gentle hand on her hip woke her a bit, an incoherent mumble, muscles twitching to life. Lena relished the ease in this toned body and mind she knew could be so fast and deadly, but stayed soft and sweet beneath her hand.

"Hi, Al." Her whisper earned a slow smile that she hopelessly echoed. "Before you freak, the kid is next door with the others. She snuck out on you."

"Sly little fox," Alex admired and opened her eyes, smiling deepening. "So I have you all to myself for a few minutes?"

Giggling, Lena put up no protest to being grabbed and given a full-body hug, her lover kissing and growling at her neck. 

"I love you," she murmured, tugging Alex into a proper kiss. "It still terrifies me to say that, but I'm liking it more and more."

"Me too."

Neither was in a hurry to get up, content to snuggle side by side and trade lazy kisses.

"Thank you again, for letting me slip away."

"You're welcome. How long have I been out?"

"Long enough that you missed Angie's startled reaction to the twins. It was pretty funny."

"I bet. Now you also brought in some good smells with you. Well, ones that aren't you, delicious lady, but dinner smells."

"Flatterer. Get up then and let's get you fed before the vodka aunts have even more fun at our expense."

"Well in that case…"

Lena laughed and groaned as Alex went to lengths to disarray her clothing and suck a quick little hickey into her neck. "Asshole," she sighed with no venom and grabbed a fistful of hair at the base of Alex's neck. "You owe me when the kid is comfortable enough to let us ditch her for a few hours and this damn period is over!"

"Oh yes ma'am," Alex breathed needily and made no move to avoid the retaliatory bite behind her left ear.

When they finally stumbled back into Kara's loft, it was to catcalling and cheers, their faces flushed with embarrassment and fooling around. To their relief, Cat raised her voice over the ruckus and saved them from the teasing they were in for from their peers.

"There she is!" Cat called out jovially as the couple walked in and made a beeline for a delighted Bug. "Kara and Reba were just telling me the saga of your recent inheritance."

Having dispensed affection to the kid and patting Carter on the shoulder, Alex followed her nose to the kitchen and was playfully shooed away by her mother.

"Weird right?" she said as she sat down with Cat and relished Lena curling up against her side. "I didn't even think Edna liked me all that much."

"If you paid your bills and didn't behave like a typical college student, I'm sure she liked you just fine."

"Well…" Alex hedged, as torn as always about those crazy days of doing everything in excess: work, studying, drinking, partying. But Cat didn't let her dwell, waving off whatever Alex might have said about the subject.

"I did a bit of research, and admittedly there isn't much easily gleaned information, but I did manage to find out that this had been constructed to be a Hudson car factory back in 1920."

"You mean like Doc Hudson, the Hudson Hornet from 'Cars'?"

Excited, Kara added to the narrative. "Oh! I hadn't even thought of that connection! We're fairly certain that ground floor had originally been a showroom, hence the height of the ceilings. Whatever fancy dressing up had been originally been there must have been removed at some point. There are papers in Edna's things about a major renovation for earthquake stability in the eighties, which coincided with the sewer replacement Reba and I already knew about."

"But there doesn't seem to be anything on record for the upper floors having been more than surface renovated since they were converted to living and work spaces starting back in the sixties," Reba interjected and Alex's brows puckered. 

"That's a long time between plumbing and electrical renoes. Ugh, this could suck."

"No point in worrying about that until you can get an inspector in here. You'll want to do that ASAP anyway, since there are tenants onsite."

"I'll get on the phone tomorrow. I've got it, Kara, you have a job to not lose!"

"Since both bosses are in the room, duh."


	11. Plans For The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curious, Kara did as asked, snuggling into her sister so that Lena could drape herself into Alex's lap and rest her legs over Kara's, a little spot of privacy among the others. In their casual cuddle, they all spent a long moment just looking at one another, the sisters caught up in that level green gaze. This was not the lover and best friend, this was the sharp, alert businesswoman in charge of a legacy worth billions and bearing a name so heavy it would crush someone lesser.
> 
> **EDIT: HOLY CRAP, HOLY CRAP, HOLY CRAP! GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYS! This chapter breaks TWO MILLION WORDS that I have put up on AO3!!!!!!!!!!! ******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random thoughts form the author: There really is a terrible housing shortage in Los Angeles, as there is in most urban centers. I learned this in doing research (omg SO MUCH RESEARCH) and incorporated it in as pertinent. 
> 
> (The Revenge of IM Notes)  
> Shatterpath: are you kidding me? I expect Cat to snatch up a couple buildings nearby, because the whole neighborhood will start to turn for the better with a project like this.  
> theillogicalthinker: Billionaires casually making a neighborhood better

"So what are you planning on doing with the place anyway?" Cat asked once they had laughed themselves out over Kara's sass. "Will it stay lofts? Or are you turning most of it to businesses? There's an appeal to all of it. What with the housing shortage in downtown, you could make a killing if you broke this beautiful old place down into smaller units."

Alex and Kara were left blinking at the barrage of questions and ideas and Cat just smiled knowingly.

"At least you'll have plenty of room now, for the whole family."

Lena ignored that reflexive blast of panic and shifted her body away to peer over Tilly's head. She and Carter had pulled over Kara's low coffee table and were busily pouring over what turned out to be the building's blueprints. They were careful to keep their sketches off of the big sheets, Tilly's new colored pencils stowed carefully in a glass, and Carter had his laptop across his raised knees. They whispered to each other like best friends, giggling conspiratorially.

"No, go bigger. See, if a small hole is put through the floor away from the support columns, it shouldn't harm the structural integrity and," Carter's low, excited voice barely carried to even Lena's ears, but Tilly was riveted as he gestured to the ceiling and then down to the floor. "You'd have all that downward momentum times two."

"Wow," Tilly breathed in awe. "That would be an amazing slide."

"And if we asked nicely, and there were some really good fences, we could probably get a place to play on the roof!"

"Out in the sun?" Matilda sounded like she was trapped between awe and terror at the concept and jumped a little when Lena stroked her head and leaned in to kiss her scalp.

"Sunshine is good for us. And a playset away from the edge could be fun maybe? It's a really big roof, the size of the whole building," Carter rambled on, turning his laptop to show a brightly colored jungle gym with things to climb and clamber over. And another twisting slide. Apparently this was a thing with them and Lena made a mental note of that.

Smiling gratefully for the reassurance, Tilly's face went thoughtful. "That's true, it would have to be as big as the whole building to cover it all. So maybe a playset in the middle, away from the scary edge?"

"That sounds perfect."

While the kids fell back to plotting, Lena returned her attention to the adults, abruptly alarmed at the stress in the Danvers sisters that she had not noted while distracted.

"Where do we even start?" Kara said faintly and somehow, the lack of obvious stress in her body language was a dead giveaway that she wasn't faking being Human and was probably far more stressed than she seemed. Alex roughly ran her hand through her tousled hair, glowering at its broken twin.

"How the hell do I know?"

They were frustrated and not a little scared by the magnitude of the task set on them by Edna Needleberg's well-meant gift.

Lena got it. She really, really did.

And she wanted to help, to interfere for the greater good, because she had done this a thousand times, from small, cheap devices to multimillion dollar deals.

Did she interfere?

But wasn't she mostly sort of family now? Didn't she have their trust?

"Maybe I'll have to snatch up the rest of the block," Cat chuckled. "It could be an amazing semi-public works project. Maybe I can ease myself back into work with something small like this, even get Carter involved as a learning experience. The kids are already interested as they've been concocting elaborate 3D plans for a play-space that's pretty impressive. Like a top-end zoo exhibit for primates crossed with American Ninja." Chuckling at the antics of the youngsters, Cat rambled on, seeming to remain oblivious of the stress beside her… or perhaps trying to ease it. "He keeps coaxing her to colors and she hems and haws. How she picked up your somber aesthetic so fast, Alex, I'll never know. What do you think, Lena? Maybe make this a joint venture?"

But Lena had tuned her out, focused on her lover and her best friend and the strain in their eyes. Abruptly, she jumped up and held an open hand out to Kara. "Come sit with us."

Curious, Kara did as asked, snuggling into her sister so that Lena could drape herself into Alex's lap and rest her legs over Kara's, a little spot of privacy among the others. In their casual cuddle, they all spent a long moment just looking at one another, the sisters caught up in that level green gaze. This was not the lover and best friend, this was the sharp, alert businesswoman in charge of a legacy worth billions and bearing a name so heavy it would crush someone lesser.

When she reached out, once again Kara immediately took her hand, connecting all three of them and Lena gave them both a little squeeze.

"I haven't wanted to interfere, because I dread overstepping. I love you both to pieces, but you need help. May I propose a starting point? You'll hear me out?"

Sensing the importance in the moment, each sister took a moment before she nodded silently.

"Good. Firstly, you simply don't have the resources to do this properly. In truth? I can pretty much guarantee that no matter how big the numbers running though your heads, you're underestimating just how expensive this is going to get."

Looking from Alex to Kara and back again, she regretted their dismay, but they had to hear the truth.

"This building is beautiful, but it's old."

"We can't tear it down!" Kara cried as though she was looking at another old friend dying and Lena shook her head and squeezed her hand.

"No, no, Kara, sweetie, you misunderstand me. The building seems structurally sound, and an engineer can verify that one way or another. What I meant is that this entire thing really needs to be gutted, right down to the structural concrete and brick. Every window needs to be replaced, every inch of wire and plumbing redone. Honestly? The cost will run well into the millions to really do it right. Probably the tens of millions."

Even Kara looked a little pale at that. Alex looked like she was going to pass out.

"There's no equity for that…" Alex said in a strangled voice and Lena nodded.

"I know. So you need an investor. That's where I come in. But what's in it for me, not as your friend and family, but as an investor?"

They brightened at the suggestion, then their faces fell once more.

"To put it bluntly, I need all the good press I can get."

All of them flinched at the painful truth of the flat statement, but again, the sisters nodded.

"So instead of a mere remodel, let's makes this a showpiece. You give me a free hand on materials to renovate with and we'll all hash out the visual details as a team. In turn, in the manner of a condominium owner, sell me a couple floors of the building and let me use this as a living example of innovation. Then, we all benefit."

For a moment, neither sister moved, then Kara smiled and laughed quietly. "Well that's a relief. I thought you were going to come up with something insane."

Alex and Lena blinked at her before the former burst out laughing and clumsily pulled them into a hug. It wasn't as though Kara cared about being clonked in the head by the cast. Sneaking in a little kiss with Lena, Alex took a deep breath and nodded against both of their heads. "As long as the private spaces remain private, I'm with you on this. So what did you have in mind?"

"Well, nothing concrete yet, but with some professionals in our corner, we can start concocting plans for real."

"I'll definitely be on the phone all day tomorrow," Alex sighed, but she was clearly less stressed with at least a rough plan in place.

"Also, we should definitely take up Cat's offer to get in on this."

Both Kara and Alex blinked at that, their heads swiveling over behind Lena where Cat was still sitting, notably quiet. Her expression gave away nothing, set in neutral lines that even Kara couldn't quite puzzle out. Lena elaborated on what her mind was racing over, voice thoughtful. 

"She's not as rich as I am, but she built her fortune from scratch, while I inherited most of mine. That's a very different mind and skill set. You won't find much more successful and smart and observant than she is."

For a moment, neither sister reacted before Kara nodded a bit distractedly. "Right. It's easy to forget…"

"That you're friends with two multi-millionaires?"

The teasing smirk was something both Kara and Alex loved to see, an outward manifestation of Lena's ease with them, even as Alex once again felt that uncomfortable lurch in brain and guts when reminded about her lady's wealth.

With an athletic squirm of her body, Lena got Alex's to spread her knees so that she could snuggle down between them, back to front, and Kara could sit forward and twist to the side to lean into their shoulders. Cat looked stoically at their eager, half-terrified expressions and broke with a sigh. "Oh for gods sake, put away the cow eyes, Terrible Trio, I've already said I'm at least marginally interested. And any reticence will be offset by how the kids are clearly interested."

That was as good a cue as any for Matilda to crawl onto the jumble of knees and snuggle in, Carter knee-walking over to his mother to sit near her feet, expression attentive. "It does sound like fun, Mom. We'll have to be sneaky about buying up the rest of the block though, in order to not get ripped off."

The burst of laughter from Cat was pure delight and she leaned over to kiss the top of his head. "That's my boy. You're more than ready to take a more active role in a real project and you won't find much more interesting than what this could become. What do you say? Partners?"

Delighted with the show of trust, Carter shook his mother's offered hand. "Partners!" Then he turned that enthusiastic, sly grin on Lena and her Danvers. "You in?"

"The whole block, huh? I call dibs on whatever is next door, if for nothing else, we're going to need better parking. I'm in."

If Lena thought it odd to be talking business with a thirteen year old, she made no show of it, shaking his hand formally.

"Us too," Kara added after sharing a long look with her sister. "Whatever we can do to help."

"So, if we're really going to do this, we'll going to have to call it 'a L-Cat joint venture'," Carter intoned seriously and smirked at his mother's arch look.

"And why L-Cat?"

"Because Cat-L sounds stupid."

The others laughed while Alex mooed. Cat gave her a deadpan look, but her eyes were amused. "I can act as an intermediary of sorts for all of you. A third party for any questions, concerns or grievances. Trust me that a remodel can kill even the best of relationships. You'll thank me for this offer one day. Besides, it'll be fun to work on something so small and intimate. Oh, don't flinch, Danvers duo. I know a ten or fifteen million dollar project simply for good PR seems excessive, but it's a matter of context and the size of our stage. And we both have very large stages, whether we like it or not."

Lena nodded quietly against Alex's clavicles. It was a truth very easy to forget in this loving, intimate atmosphere with this new circle of family and friends.

To give their emotions a few moments to settle, Cat went back to talking business, her voice crisp and calm. "I'm thinking ten to fifteen million as a starting baseline."

"I agree," Lena chimed in, glad for the distraction. "It's probably a lowball starting figure, but a reasonable one. From what I remember of modifying my building downtown, replacing the windows alone will be a couple million."

"Ugh. Industrial windows, so expensive. Now if I could just get the bad guys to leave me alone."

Her dry look spoke volumes, the small Danvers clan chuckling softly.

"And anything I invest in this project will be from my own finances," Lena added as she stared down where she was playing idly with Alex's good hand. "Keeping it entirely separate from the company just makes good sense."

"Smart. Now, I'm going to steal away Kara and the kids for a bit because I'm very curious about those drawings. Matilda, would you mind showing me?"

After a moment, she was reassured by hugs from her favored adults before slipping away. With the pile of large papers half-obscuring her vision, she padded after Cat towards the dining table.

"Our U-Haul cliches are getting deeper and deeper," Alex said quietly and Lena made a half amused and half terrified sound, twisting her body to snuggle in closer.

"They are, but what else can we do? Matilda needs more space than your apartment and a gut job of this building is going to put Kara out of a place to live as well."

Alex mouthed kisses over Lena's forehead and stroked her body to more relaxation before huffing out a dramatic sigh. "Hey Kara?"

It only took her a moment to peer over the back of the couch, ponytail falling over her shoulder. "What is it?"

"So, how do you feel about taking over another of my apartments? I'm going to have to shop around for something bigger. At least now I can get closer to work. I won't complain about that!"

Lena hid her face in Alex's neck, body tense again, and she lightly tugged at the longer strands of bobbed hair. "I have the condo…"

Now, Alex firmly believed in personal space, in the real value of that, but couldn't deny the visceral thrill of setting up shop with her girlfriend and kid. And sometimes, she had to be willing to give up control and let things play out as they would.

"You'd give up your little office you tell me has a great view of National City?"

Despite Alex's light teasing, Lena expression was open and vulnerable when she tilted her head up. "I'd give up just about anything for you and Bug."

Choked with emotion, Alex hugged her hard, breathed in the scents of her, let them fill her. "Yeah, me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theillogicalthinker: I love them. I'm glad the sisters were open to it  
> Shatterpath: I tried to think of how Lena would broach the subject and make it logical  
> theillogicalthinker: yeah. it fit with how everything was happening. the sisters didn't have any viable options. Lena gave them a way to do it where no one was losing out


	12. Overheard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She looked fondly at the crowd, adoring all of them in that moment. The family she had been born to the and the family she'd made, the mishmash of personalities and humors they made up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter came out of having a tangled yarn ball of little snippets from the whole of this holiday get together. So I visualized like those film scenes as the POV moves around a crowd, catching little scenelets in the whole. That idea also gave me the title. Enjoy!
> 
> Randomly, the first draft of this chapter was exactly 2700 words. These sorts of things amuse me.

The loft became a crowded madhouse of activity as the savory smells became unbearable. Winn and Lena carefully helped Kara pack up her art supplies for safekeeping while James and Lucy goodnaturedly bickered over getting the mess of couches shoved as much out of the way as possible. All the smaller soft chairs were trooped next door and Edna's huge dining table and chairs dragged over in turn. The gang were scattered between food prep, setting the tables, or providing verbal entertainment.

Angie was bantering with Kara and Tilly where they were chopping and prepping at the kitchen island. "I forgot to tell you guys how hard I laughed when I saw what you did with the rental trees. It's wonderful, much better than what I did."

"I don't know how I'll ever give them up now. They seem sorta like family now," Kara said wistfully as she looked over at the mass of arborvitae shrubs and their cheerful decorations. "Maybe I'll have to buy them and they can keep all my windows company."

That made Matilda giggle and gesture with the lettuce leaves she was tearing to pieces for a salad. "Like a green army!"

"Exactly! See, Tilly thinks it's a good idea! And if we take good care of them, they can be here for Christmas again."

Matilda definitely liked that, turning her wide smile up at Kara and Eliza, who had come over to join them. "Their father loved the holidays, even if he only got to spend one with you, Kara. And don't be fooled by Sandy and Alex's 'whatever' attitude sometimes. You dangle a string of Christmas lights in front of them and it's moths to a flame."

"I'm just here for food and presents!" Sandy called out merrily where she was seated at the table, just enjoying the ambience. "Much like every Alexandra before me. The nerve of that boy of mine to be a son."

Kara shared a fondly exasperated look with Eliza and slipped away to find a photograph amidst the Christmas things. Bug was thoughtful, piecing things together in her head. "Your son. Alex's father. He helped her after the mean cyborg attacked, the one that looks like nice Grampa J'onn. The other one wasn't mean, but I dinnit really like him either."

Part of Kara didn't want to hand over the photo, to have the modern troubles shade the memory trapped there any darker, but in the end, she really had no choice. Twenty-Six knew who Jeremiah was and there were many photos she would encounter over time.

"Yes, that's him," Bug said quietly, tracing the faces of Jeremiah and his teenage daughters in the one Christmas they had together, their smiles wide. "I've never seen him smile."

Three generations of Danvers shared an alarmed, significant look over Bug's head and silently filed away the new information.

Carefully hiding her own pains as best she could, Eliza touched the photo, remembered the joy of those too-brief days when Kara had finally started coming out of her shell and Jeremiah was still with them.

"Alex is like her father in so many ways."

"She's more like you than either of you want to admit." Kara scoffed and looked a bit sheepish at her sass. 

Sandy made no attempt to hide her teasing amusement. "It's true Eliza, Alex may have been a daddy's girl, but she is certainly her mother's daughter."

"Danvers!" Lucy suddenly yelled from across the room as though on cue. "The only reason you get to be Thing One is because you are more destructive and idiotic! It's not a compliment!" 

"Still number one, She Who Has No Filter." Alex said smugly and high-fived a completely amused Susan.

Lucy threw her hands up in melodramatic ridiculousness and ranted, "oh god, talk some sense into your wife, Best Luthor."

Lena ignored them until Alex slunk over to wrap her in a hug and nuzzle her neck while Maggie laughingly harangued her new girlfriend. "Lucifer, get your fine ass over here so that I can pin you down for five minutes."

"Not while you have a lap full of dog," Lucy sneered back and Maggie fought down her laugh to look imploring and adorable. Amusingly echoed on Peggy's sweet face.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuugh," Lucy groaned and stomped over to drop herself onto the arm of Maggie's recliner as hard as she possibly could to sulk dramatically.

"Hey, Angie! Y'know what, I'm bored half out of my skull with being laid up, at least when the drama queen isn't here. If you're worried about Peggy not having company, I'm totally up for dog-sitting."

It took a moment before Angie could look away from her work, to see that in addition to being bodily sprawled over most of Maggie's compact frame, Peggy was now getting spoiled rotten from the energetic couple, her tail wagging happily.

"Yeah, okay. She'd like that, obviously. Thanks."

Setting aside her knife and bouncing over to her sister, Kara was alight with childish enthusiasm. "Alex, Alex, Alex! You know what this remodel means, right? 

Leaving off snuggling with her girlfriend, Alex slung her broken arm around Kara's neck to pull her into the hug. "That I don't have to commute from Rancho Cucamonga anymore?"

"Well, that too, but no, dummy, we can get pets now! Dogs and cats and raccoons and maybe even a bird! Can you keep birds? I still don't feel like I really understand birds."

Suffused with memories and adoration for this oddball soulmate from the stars that fate had dropped on her, Alex chuckled and responded to the verbal barrage. "Yes, you can keep some kinds of birds, but they're a lot of work. And no raccoons! Or anything of the weasel family. What a nightmare that would be."

"Awwwww…"

"But dogs and cats would be great."

"Yay!" Kara cheered and bounced away happily. Echoing the loving grin, Lena tugged at her girlfriend so that her focus came back around and they could resume their cuddling.

"Oh, did mention that I came up with another one for your war of the words? Inertial Danvers."

Alex stared in awed shock for a moment and then burst out into delighted laughter. "Oh my god, that is brilliant! How did you even come up with that?"

How Lena loved making her laugh, her smile a smitten echo of delight. "I admit that I looked to the internet for a teeny bit of rhyming help."

"It's still brilliant," Alex complimented warmly and kissed at her neck. "The best I can come up with is 'Lena on me'. Or maybe 'keep it cleana'."

"Ugh, those are terrible," Lena chuckled and the hint of moan just under the words belied any seriousness to them.

"They really are."

Sandy smiled sappily at the happy couple laughing over their shared humor and Kara leaning over the Maggie/Lucy cuddling to pet the dog. When her phone hummed in her pocket, she grinned widely at the tinny strains of Rod Stewart's 'Do You Think I'm Sexy' always a karaoke favorite between the friends. The song brought a curious Bug scampering over to tuck herself into the offered half hug as Sandy answered to reveal that familiar face and smile. "Well hello again, Liv!"

"Merry Christmas ladies," Olivia greeted them from another warmly decorated room in the White House. 

Bug smiled and her voice was a little shy. "I remember you from yesterday. You're Great Gramma Sandy's friend that 'timidated Auntie Kara."

Sandy smiled fondly down at Matilda where she pressed into her side. "Matilda was adopted today. She's officially family now."

Olivia was completely delighted. "Why, that's wonderful! The best Christmas present anyone could ask for."

Matilda's gold gaze drifted across the room where her new moms were half dancing and half cuddling, utterly unaware of the rest of the room around them. "The best."

Without a word, she whisked off to glom onto them as best she could with her small frame while Cat joined Sandy. "She's a neat kid and has fallen in with a great crowd. Lena surprised me, but I knew Alex was a good one because of the adoring way Kara would always talk about her."

"Ah yes, your Kara," Olivia teased slyly and her picture wobbled a moment before the best photo Sandy has sent that morning replaced her.

The glower Cat fired Sandy nearly lit the room on fire. Sandy, of course, only laughed uproariously.

"I'm making that adorable picture my screen saver."

"It was cold in here!" Cat growled and was amused and appalled that she could feel her ears growing hot. She hadn't realized she'd gotten so… touchy-feely in the night, drawn to Kara's warmth like a radiator. She would take her embarrassment and sulking to the grave. 

"Now, see I knew you thought Clark was hot, Cat, but now his cousin too?"

"Oh, shut it, Liv…"

Sandy couldn't resist getting in on the teasing. "How did they even talk you into wearing that decrepit old sweatshirt anyway?"

"Yes, what were they feeding you in that yurt?"

"I learned to free my mind. An old Danvers sweatshirt is not enough to ruffle me any longer! Besides, Alex smells nice."

Sandy laughed hard enough that she was useless for conversation after that. 

A little rosy cheeked from the strong red wine Angie had been very generous with, Lucy grew bored with the dog and slipped away to wreak havoc away from Maggie's distracting presence. Winn and Jess chatting with Hartquez and the twins was a perfect target.

"You claimed once to be an expert marksman in, how did you so colorfully put it, finding the right hot monkey sex matches?" Only Susan could deliver a line like that with an utterly deadpan expression. Lucy just gave her a dirty look.

"Tequila was involved, get off me. Besides, I store details about people for funner reasons than you. I called you finding a woman like your Kyra long before you ever met her. Though the musician thing is a nice twist."

Kyra snorted, but her look was sappy when she looked at her fiancé. "She's better than I could have dreamed up myself."

The others 'awww'ed at them and their sweet kiss.

"Jess and the Fuzzies I don't know well enough, yet. And I stress, yet. Winn will end up with a nice twink or sweet girl who will be more wide-eyed than Kara at her 'gosh, golly' best. Or a psychopath. Dealer's choice."

Winn's expression almost rivaled Susan's for sarcastic amusement. "Gee thanks."

"If you're lucky, you'll get some smart babe who sees past your dork to the smarts and decency underneath."

That made him all puppyish smiles again. "Awww, thanks, my sis in psychosis! I knew you loved me!"

The riot of laughter brought over Alex and Lena to catch the end of the bantering. Having never quite learned when to not push Lucy, Alex had to jump in with playful aggression.

"Okay, hotshot, how about J'onn?"

"First of all, eww, no, he's like Space Dad," Lucy snarked and then looked mock-thoughtful. "Though he was making googly-eyes at Kyra's hot mom. What? Like no one else noticed? I almost thought you and he had the right sparks, Mrs. Dr. Danvers."

As though they had silently coordinated the timing, Eliza wandered over to get involved whether she liked it or not. She had dealt with wilder than Lucy Lane and her reply was perfectly calm.

"I think there's a bit too much history there to be quite that comfortable. Still…"

"Mom!" Alex goggled in shock and the rest of the group dissolved into stifled hilarity. 

"Oh, honestly, Alex, do you really think you're the only one who randomly found an unexpected hottie in your path?"

The hysterical laughter filled the loft while Alex and Lena blushed like mad.

"I wish M'gann were here," Kara said wistfully out of nowhere where she had resumed loving all over Peggy once Lucy had wandered off again. Eliza gave Lena's shoulder a little squeeze and repeated the gesture on Kara as she walked by, her expression smugly pleased. "It's a shame she might be alone tonight. I need to get a phone number for her as soon as I can."

"I can help with that," Maggie offered and dug out her phone to dial someone while Kara watched curiously.

"Three," said a businesslike woman's voice on the other end.

"Hey Dace, it's Maggie. Merry Christmas."

"Hey!" The voice was much warmer now, Kara's sensitive ears easily picking it up. "Merry Christmas to you too, Sawyer. How's the healing going?"

"Really good actually, but it will never be fast enough."

"I remember all too well, but at least mine was my arm. What can I do for you?"

"My… um, pal, Kara wanted to wish M'gann a Merry Christmas. Is she there?"

There was a new warmth in the voice in the phone. "She is. The place is hoppin' tonight, which I couldn't be happier to see. Not for the money, but for the community."

Memories of the horrors that had befallen the Alien and Metahuman bar flooded Maggie and she could feel a hard lump in her throat and the sting of tears in her eyes. But this time there was hope mixed with the pain. "I know exactly what you mean. Could you pass that on to her from us? Tell her it's the gang from the party she worked yesterday. She knows us."

"My pleasure. Take care, Maggie."

"You too, Dace."

Clearing her throat and scrubbing at her eyes, Maggie paused at an over-warm hand on her arm, Kara's smile gentle. "Thank you."

Activity was picking up then and everyone began drifting over to help finish things up and settle to the mismatched chairs. While the unbroken girlfriends were drafted by the Mom Squad to help with final preparations, Alex helped Maggie get to her feet, Peggy pouting at being ousted from her warm spot. 

"I think your new girlfriend is jealous."

"Danvers, I will beat you with this crutch."

"Sure. If you didn't need them to walk!"

"I can balance with just one, you ass."

Their bickering got them over to the table where Sandy pointed imperiously to the spot on her right where she sat at the head of the table. Ro helped her settle, Shan cradling the leg and Lucy adjusting a cardboard box with a pillow on it for support. Alex sat opposite, leaving no one on her aching right side so that she could forget about anyone jostling her. The others ranged themselves out as they wanted, their little units within the larger group falling together as though magnetically attracted.

As though telepathically summoned, there was a knock at the door and Kara pulled her glasses down to peer, squeeing a little in happiness. Throwing open the door she happily yelled J'onn's name and grabbed him in a strong hug. The gang roared an enthusiastic welcome and somehow one more chair was squeezed in.

"I'm only on a long lunch break, but I wanted to see everyone for Christmas."

Platters of delicious-smelling food were set out, wine poured and the babble of voices settling into something calmer, more intimate.

Impulsively, Alex stood and picked up her goblet of fancy grape juice impersonating wine. Every eye rested on her, from her mother's sappy affection to Bug's curious stare. 

She looked fondly at the crowd, adoring all of them in that moment. The family she had been born to the and the family she'd made, the mishmash of personalities and humors they made up. 

Her mother and the mentor who had become like another father to her and all the emotional ups and downs they represented. The father she missed even now, who hopefully could find some peace in the path he had set himself on. Her sister who, with time and trial, had become half of her heart.

Lena, who she had come to adore and who looked at her like she was the center of her universe; her duo of soul-siblings in their ridiculous 'Sans Serial Spawn' shirts, now joined by the furry twins. Shan sported a orangey-red camisole top so tight it looked ridiculous, no doubt from Lucy, nearly a foot shorter, while Ro's electric blue tee fit her better, since it had come from Winn's stash.

Bug, the sweet little foundling who had stolen her heart away, ginning up at her, swimming in the comically over-large DEO work shirt, sleeves pinned up and the little cat stuffies Pam had given her peeking out of the hood. 

Maggie, first her friend, then her painful catalyst and now her friend again. Jess and Angie, new to their mad clan and already fitting in. 

Alex looked out over the crowd, the twenty people and one curiously peeking dog who sat and waited for the words that crowded her throat. There was so much she could say, where could she even start?

"To friends and family, new and old. Those that are with us and those that can't be. Cheers."

And it was enough.


	13. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena giggled and ended up collapsing into Kara's lap for a long hug. That was as good a cue as any for Matilda to squirm down Alex's prone body and get involved in the new cuddling. Groaning at the stiffness in her body. Alex sat up and twisted out a little of the discomfort before shifting to lean into the little knot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we come again to the end of an installment! I have to say that this endlessly long holiday saga has been a delight to my fluff-loving heart. So much has happened in just a few days of story time! Hard to believe right? There is more to come for this mismatched batch of personalities and I still have gas in my creative tank. So stay tuned!

Stuffed to the gunnels and having cleaned up from dinner, the gang was ranged out over the couches they had once again reshuffled. The dining tables had been subsequently taken over by Lena's gifts. Nearly everyone had gotten a little gift bag with a silly kid's toy or two and there had been plenty left over.

Most of the surface of the dining tables was a warzone of cheap plastic toys ranging from a fake paleontologist kit so cheap and tacky it looked like a drunk monkey had glued it together, to a crappy plastic sword and sorcery set, to a cowboy kit right out of the fifties. Kara, Bug and amusingly, James, still bore speckles of face paint from the clown kit and Lucy wore half of the flimsy handcuffs that had come in Maggie's sheriff set that had made her laugh so hard.

Amidst the kit pieces were miniature figures of wildlife and dinosaurs and soldiers and fairytale characters looking like they'd been struck down by a lightning bolt. There had been much ridiculous pantomiming and laughter over them earlier, exactly what Lena had hoped for.

An even bigger hit with the gang had been the oversized fishbowl that had baffled Kara so. Still, she'd obediently did as Lena instructed and upended the accompanying cardboard box into the glass sphere. It had contained dozens and dozens of gift cards from restaurants to grocery chains to a random fancy resort in North Carolina.

"Honestly, I didn't even look at them," Lena explained with a shrug as the others marveled over the collection. "Just checked off the fifty dollar denomination on everything Amazon had on their splash page."

In order to distribute the goodies with some semblance of fairness, they had created their own barter system that had boiled down to using them as chips in a round-robin poker game that had been going on for hours.

"I'll give you a Wild Wings and raise you a Subway Sandwiches," Winn cajoled with the best puppy eyes he could manage while Susan just stared him down dryly. Then she grinned and caved, tossing one of the plastic gift cards to the table.

"A worthy offer, good sir! I'll put the Gamestop card you've been drooling over all night into the pot, but you better have a hell of a good hand!"

While Winn danced happily in his seat, Jess ribbed her boss and pal. "Y'know, I don't think there's a Piggly Wiggly anywhere west of the Mississippi River."

Undaunted by the playful sass, Lena just smirked. "Maybe Supergirl can go on an ice cream run or something."

Chuckling, Sandy folded and stood with creaking joints to wander over where Alex was sprawled out indolently on one of the couches. Stealing Susan's empty recliner, she made herself comfortable with a long sigh. For a while, the two generations were content with the quiet and the recliner warming Sandy's bones.

With Kara's help, Bug had been busy picking through the debris field to salvage the toys she liked. That task done, she cradled a repurposed gift bag to her chest and padded over to where Alex was resting. Kara quietly followed and curled up at her sister's sock-clad feet.

"You're sure I can have these?" Bug asked softly and relished how Alex casually snaked out her left arm to draw her into a quick, loose hug

"Absolutely, sweetie."

"Thank you."

"I'm disappointed there's no leftovers," Kara sulked where she watched the little girl pad over the bed and squirrel away her new treasures. Where she'd been hanging out quietly nearby, Angie smiled.

"I'll make you more. It's nice to have someone to cook for again." Then she seemed to realize how sappy she sounded and cleared her throat, cheeks pinking. "Lots of someones. The more the merrier."

Both Danvers sisters 'mmmm'ed at her happily and Sandy just shook her head at her oblivious granddaughters. It was clearly a good thing Alex had found someone she wanted as much forever as she could get with. Otherwise, she might have gone on for years, clueless of being flirted with. Kara was just as bad, if not worse.

Tilly returned and carefully slinked onto Alex to sprawl out, the cast resting on her back. Murmuring sweet affections and doling out pets, Alex happily showed her adoration of this odd child who had become her own.

"You know, we never can do anything the easy way," Sandy mused conversationally and soaked up her namesake's easy smile.

"You mean how I acquired a kid and got myself practically married in the most convoluted way I could manage?"

"And your almost mother and brother in law are goddamn super villains. With like a personal vendetta against the Supers. Though Lena is lovely. She gets that from Lionel."

Alex only laughed. "Yes, Gran, we're aware of the complicated backstory."

"Alexandra Danvers the third, the Civil War was complicated. The Hatfields and McCoys are complicated. Batman and the Joker are complicated. You are a cluster fuck."

"Gram!" Alex laughed and shrugged off the passing thought that maybe they shouldn't cuss so much around the kid. Yeah, right, like that would last.

"Just calling it how it is." The bland tone became mischievous. "I can't really talk. I mean Jemima and I were interracial lesbians in the sixties."

"I still can't believe I never clued into that!"

It was clear that Angie was dying to let loose a million questions and Alex took some pity on her. "I work with a special team of the FBI that deals with more than Human threats. So, in this town, that means a lot of aliens and some Metahumans. And yes, that means I've worked with Supergirl more than once."

Neither grandmother or sister cracked their expressions, though it was a close one in the latter's case.

"And found this cute little fox too!"

Tilly giggled and wiggled happily, breathing in the scents of home and the holidays and her hero.

Where she had been sleeping wrapped around Angie's feet, Peggy stood and stretched out first her front then hind legs. To Kara's glee, the black dog padded over to get more affection, stretching out her head to sniff at Alex's knees and Bug's little bare feet. The tickle set them both to giggling.

Randomly, Jess tapped out of the game as well, standing and stretching before she wandered aimlessly over to the little knot of Danvers. Though it turned out her destination wasn't random at all.

"He was a surprisingly affectionate brother," she said softly out of nowhere, her gaze on Lena. "He adored her and vice versa. They were a riot together once they were out from under the spotlights and microscopes and away from Lillian. When he…" her voice cracked silent then, the sheen of tears clear in her eyes. "When he went bad, it nearly destroyed her. Thank you, all of you, for bringing back her smile."

"Hey, I love this big, weird family as much as all the other emotional orphans," Winn suddenly raised his voice in perfect timing, as though he had heard Jess' quiet words across the loft. "And we're going to have to expand our merchandise options."

His gorilla chest slapping made the girls laugh at him and brought out his little brother smile. 

"Now I just need one that looks like a pride shirt. Oooo! Can I get glitter letters?" Lucy squealed and offered a high-five when Lena added onto the thought.

"In the bisexual pride colors!"

It took a moment for Lena to remember the friendly teamwork gesture, but she grinned and slapped Lucy's palm. They both faintly startled at Winn's upraised hand.

"Don't leave a guy hangin', jeez guys."

Lucy had to stand to hit his hand after Lena's grin had gone practically giddy and she'd high-fived him, hard. Then they were back to wardrobe options.

"We totally need like letterman jackets!"

"Dude, that's too 1950s. What about a biker gang?"

"Bowling shirts!" Winn yelled and his new 'sisters' yelled it back at him in delight.

"Bowling shirts!"

That woke Maggie abruptly, her sleepy alarm making Lucy slap her cards face down and scramble over to the recliner. With gentle hands and soft kisses, Maggie was reassured and dozed back off, taking long moments before her grip on Lucy's hand relaxed. Lucy took a few more moments to simply touch her new paramour before softly clearing her throat and skulking back to the table. Despite her so often being a pain in the ass, no one teased her.

"Baseball jerseys," she added in as though there'd been no interruption and Lena smiled slyly.

"If we did that, someone might make us play!"

"Hey company softball teams are a fine old tradition. Think we can get a Catco one too? Then we can be rivals!"

While the three of them went on and Susan just listened with fond bemusement, Alex mused to herself, "you know, I really have no idea what those three are going on about."

"There's some gossip running around work about that," Sandy added thoughtfully, well aware of Jess' alert ears close by. "It must be how Lucy found out."

Stereo confusion had Sandy quirking a sad little smile.

"Their little club. Lillian and Lex, the Toymaker, General Lane."

The startled shock on all their faces would have been almost comical had the subject matter not been so painful.

"So sans as in lacking, serial killer, the spawn of. I would say the technicalities of Lena's involvement make little difference to her friends."

Sure enough, the trio lit up with delight as Eliza and Reba wandered back in from next door and shrugged at one another when the kids noisily begged them to join the game. Shan was happy to give up her seat to Reba and go wrap herself around a sleepily grumbling Maggie where the clinginess clearly relaxed them both.

There was a little chaos at the poker table as the player reshuffled themselves and grabbing snacks and drinks before settling in once more. 

In the babble of voices as they settled into their game, the start of the subject was lost, but there was no mistaking Lucy's merriment carrying over the din.

"Your mother is banging Danvers, and I would absolutely not kick her out of bed!" 

Startled, confused and utterly embarrassed by the shout, Alex could only stare at Lucy where she sprawled out indolently in her chair, gesturing with her glass of wine.

"Absolutely no offence Dr. Mom Danvers, time has done you well. Also, completely unfazed by our work, crazy smart, and calm in the face of insanity."

There was no mistaking Eliza's dry amusement as she intoned, "years of practice."

A rolling chuckle out of the supposedly asleep Maggie cracked a stifled giggle out of Angie of all people, and her eyes rounded in consternation. That was enough to set the others off and the room was filled with laughter.

Lucy continued on blithely as the others settled. "I probably couldn't handle you anyway. Still, I would totally need someone bossy to keep me in line."

"Yes, we can see how effective that has been," Eliza needled back and Lucy pantomimed being struck in the heart while the others howled.

"I should chivalrously kick your ass or something. Y'know, for my mother's honor or whatever."

Alex's protest was sarcastic and not a little resigned while Lucy just grinned wolfishly.

"Hey, you got half your looks from her so be thankful you're as hot as you are. And like I know Kara is adopted and 'from out of town' or whatever, but are you sure she isn't genetically yours Eliza?"

Not entirely certain that Alex wasn't going to follow up on the threat, Kara patted her sister's knee. "Alex, Lucy is your friend, one of your best friends."

"No, you are my best friend. Not some tiny military Barbie lawyer too pretty for her own good."

Lucy merely cackled manically and fired cheesy fingerguns at her. "Ditto Danvers, you're pretty hot shit too."

"Fuck off."

"All I'm saying is you all totally look like biological family depending on how you look at it and you just happened to be the older sister who is the less hot one in the family."

"Are you sure this isn't a dig at Lois?"

"You said it, not me." 

Smugly satisfied, Lucy settled once more into her game. Alex honestly didn't even know why she bothered to feel exasperated anymore. However, after a peaceful moment, it was apparent that Lucy wasn't finished, her tone amused and thoughtful.

"I didn't say you weren't hot. You and Kara are hot in different ways. Like Kara is the personification of sunshine and puppies and like nerdy-looking hot, with a side of gunshow for spice. You are 'soft mom but could break every bone in my body and I'd say thank you' hot. As well as like soft butch aesthetic realness."

Alex added embarrassment to the list of her emotions from the needling. If Lucy weren't authentically hilarious…

Gasping like she'd just realized she had the winning lottery numbers in her hand, Lucy gesticulated wildly, nearly cracking Lena in the head and showering the table with playing cards. "Dude you should totally get a suit and butch it up some time! Your ass would look amazing, and those shoulders!"

And at long last, Lucy earned the slow flush she was after, Alex throwing her arm over her eyes and noting that even Bug giggled where she remained cuddled close. She would never admit to the whine in her reply. "Don't you have some other law enforcement officer to bother?"

"She doesn't blush like you do! But seriously like a dark red suit with black trim and a white shirt. Tie or bowtie?" Twisting to grab her pal by the shirtfront, Lucy was all wild eyes and insane smile. "Lena! Is Alex a traditional tie lesbian, or a bowtie lesbian! I must know!"

And Lena's clear, delighted amusement with the whole situation ensured that Alex would tolerate a mountain of teasing if her sweetheart kept smiling like that.

"I'm not sure yet. She'd look stunning either way."

The seemingly nonchalant response earned a waggle of eyebrows from Lucy. "How about a shirt with a few buttons undone?"

Lena pretended to look thoughtful and her voice held a filthy edge that brought a whole different blush to Alex.

"Her neck is exquisite…"

"Why Lena Luthor, you minx!" Lucy gasped in utterly fake shock and Lena preened.

"Honestly is the best policy."

Alex dared peek at them, but it was clear by Lucy's wickedly thoughtful expression that she wasn't done yet. "Though she would look amazing in a slinky little red or black number."

And Lena leered so dirtily that Kara had to look away, her expression grossed out, adoring and completely sympathetic as she watched Alex's face.

"Yes, she does."

They finally noticed how everyone was looking at them with various levels of fond exasperation and burst into high-pitched, squealing laughter, leaning on one another for support. 

Unsurprisingly, the pals waved off being dealt into the next hand, Lucy picking out a few gift cards she wanted to keep and handing the rest off to Eliza. Lena happily handed her cards out at random and rose on unsteady feet to wander over to her little family.

Everyone jumped like scared cats when lightning flashed suddenly, the enormous windows blazing a blinding white for a moment in tandem to the power flickering ominously. The boom of thunder shook the old brick and concrete building before any of them had even settled from the flash.

Reba's laughter broke the tense silence. "You Californians and weather, honestly. Little rain and lightning and you fall apart! Though at this rate ah'll never see the ocean! It'll probably clear just as I'm leaving in a couple of days." 

Susan just smiled adoringly at her and teased, "you'll just have to come back then."

Blinking away the flash, Lucy sat on her perch on Maggie's recliner and didn't fight being pulled down into a cuddle as Shan squirmed away.

"You're not gonna get all weird on me if I keep messing with everyone, are you?"

Maggie couldn't stop her ripple of laughter. "No, no. You keep being your wild self, Tiny Terror."

"Ugh, I don't wanna go to work. You're comfy. Do you think the DEO would keep functioning without me?"

"Sure it would, but do you want it to?"

"No. Not really. Will you get me up at five? I'll grab a shower there."

There was no mistaking Maggie's affection as she stroked Lucy's hair and they melted into one another. "You got it."

Lena giggled and ended up collapsing into Kara's lap for a long hug. That was as good a cue as any for Matilda to squirm down Alex's prone body and get involved in the new cuddling. Groaning at the stiffness in her body. Alex sat up and twisted out a little of the discomfort before shifting to lean into the little knot of them.

"Love you, bestie," Lena murmured into blonde hair and felt a hint of that crushing strength, so carefully held back. When Kara did speak, her voice was distinctly soggy.

"My best friend and my sister. And now my niece too! I love you all so much."

Alex and Bug quietly returned the endearments and that was as good a time as any to resituate, the child finally curious about the patient dog. So Alex and Lena retreated to the far end of the couch to cuddle. No matter that they had barely been apart in a long time and the last few emotionally heavy days clung close, they were their own dynamic now, a partnership that made them both stronger. In Alex, Lena had found it in herself to be loving, spontaneous, even nurturing and in turn she lent a grounding calm to her temperamental love, a focus for all that intensity and willingness to give. 

"I love you," Lena said quietly, feeling for the first time like maybe the words were becoming more real. She stroked her hand through the darkly reddish hair, smoothing and disarraying the strands, scratching lightly at Alex's scalp.

"I love you too," Alex returned the sentiment just as quietly, her embrace soft and strong, her gaze caught in the green of her love.

Surrounded by family and friends, they were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peggy says, Merry Christmas and see you for New Year's!  
>   
> But Lucy has to get in the last word. Because, well, Lucy.  
> 


End file.
